Texas Tech basketball docs we need: Bob Knight at the salad bar

Knight and Smith have a verbal altercation at United

It’s not uncommon for high-profile sports figures to have confrontations with their superiors.  But they rarely take place in a crowded supermarket during the lunch rush.

That’s what happened on February 2, 2004, when Knight and Smith had words at United on 50th and Indiana.  In their defense, at least they were eating at the business that holds the naming rights for the arena that the Red Raiders call home.

"As reported by KCBD Channel 11 in Lubbock, “According to an eyewitness, Knight and Smith exchange words. With Knight’s demeanor described as, ‘Mad as a hornet. His face was bright red.’ Knight then allegedly threw his salad. The argument between the two men possibly getting physical. “The four then leave the store, where Knight’s temper continues to boil in the parking lot. A second eyewitness sees Myers grab Knight by the shoulder, pulling him away from Smith, ostensibly to prevent any physical violence. The chancellor’s reaction described as dismayed. “As Knight walks to his car, he reportedly stops at least twice, glancing back at Smith, ‘sizing him up’ according to the witness. He then gets in his vehicle and leaves.”"

How surreal must that moment have been for those dining at United that day?  At 6-foot-5 and wearing a menacing scowl at most times, Knight is hard to miss, and at the time, he was Lubbock’s biggest celebrity.   He and the university were just fortunate that cell phones did not have cameras back then because were something similar to happen in 2020, there would be dozens of videos shot and shared across the social media landscape.

You may be wondering what caused the argument.  Well, that depends on whether you believe Knight’s account or Smith’s

According to Knight in an article from the New York Times, the incident unfolded like this:

"”[Smith] said: ‘Bob, you’ve really been doing well lately. You’ve done a very good job lately.’ ”I said, ‘David, I think that as long as I’ve been here, for the most part.’ Knight said that after he went to fix his salad, the chancellor ”came at me pretty hard, saying: ‘You’ve got issues? What are they?’ ” ”Right then is where I think that I was at fault,” Knight said. ”I should have just shook my head and walked away and said a lot of other things. I didn’t. I went on to tell him what one of those issues was. Then it got back and forth a little bit.” Knight also said, ”I absolutely did not instigate anything.”"

Meanwhile, Smith painted the incident as if it were a joke taken the wrong way.  His story was made public when the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal got ahold of a memo in which he gave his account of the incident to school officials.

"“I placed my hand on his shoulder, kidded him about eating healthy, and stated that, ‘Most of us only hear the negatives, it’s important that sometimes someone remembers the positives.'” According to Smith, Knight’s “demeanor and bodily habitas [sic] changed drastically”. With a red face his response was curt and angry as he responded, ‘I always handle things well, and have always handled things well.'”"

This was a classic he-said/he-said incident and only Knight, Smith, and Myers will know for sure if Knight’s case of the ruffled feathers was warranted or whether Smith was trying to have a good-natured moment of humor.  Situations such as that make for fantastic documentaries, especially if a third-party witness such as Myers is willing to go on the record. But thus far, all we’ve had to go on has been the word of the two combatants and that’s likely all we will ever have.