Bobby Knight’s chair toss on February 23, 1985 is widely regarded as one of the most legendary coaching outbursts in college basketball history. The feisty Indiana head coach became heated just five minutes into their home game against Purdue after back-to-back questionable foul calls on IU’s Marty Simmons and Daryl Thomas.
Knight was furious immediately following the Simmons call and began voicing his displeasure. That displeasure only increased after the second whistle, at which time he drew a technical. As Purdue’s Steve Reid approached the near free throw line to shoot the technical free throws, Knight very casually grabbed a chair and hurled it across the court.
He was ejected and would receive a 1-game suspension and 2-year probation penalty from the Big Ten. Knight drew numerous technicals during his legendary coaching career and routinely lost his mind but the chair incident remains one of the best of all-time.
About Jason Smith