Columnist Dean Juipe: One should stay, one should go

Dean Juipe

Friday, May 12, 2000 | 10:11 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or 259-4084.

Both men have been unusually quiet of late. But only one has something to hide.

One is a legitimate hero with nary a black mark on his resume, a dignified man who will always be remembered as one of the greatest basketball players in history. Larry Bird, currently wrapping up his third and final season as coach of the NBA's Indiana Pacers, deserves to be admired not only for his playing ability but his calculated, nondemonstrative manner on the bench.

He rarely has much to say but lately has said even less than usual, the result, no doubt, of his impending departure.

At least he's leaving of his own accord, perhaps into a brief retirement but just as likely as part of a group that will purchase the Boston Celtics. Either way, Bird has brought nothing but honor to the sport and the state where he was born and honed his basketball talents.

At the opposite extreme is another Indiana icon, Bobby Knight. Self-centered and intolerable, the Indiana University coach may be nearing the end of his 35-year tenure at the school he has routinely embarrassed.

The heat is on Knight and, appropriately, he may actually be forced to surrender a job that now, more than ever, requires someone with a sense of tact and an understanding of political correctness. Knight has neither and never did.

A bully in the truest sense of the word, today Knight finds himself confronted with a mounting pile of allegations of misconduct. The latest: He not only swore at and intimidated a 64-year-old IU secretary, he broke his son's nose and dislocated his son's shoulder during a fistfight six years ago.

That's on top of an endless succession of stories of physical abuse toward players and IU personnel, including at least one incident involving the school president. The man has been a walking time bomb for years and -- his outstanding coaching record aside -- his ouster is long overdue.

While there's a chance he has coached his final game and he certainly needs to step forward and defend himself if possible, Knight has retreated and isn't offering his usual rebuttals. A master at the art of denial, he seems to have gone underground.

Whether he's merely dodging the posse or working on his resignation speech, Knight's legacy has been permanently tarnished. He needs to quit or be fired.

Conversely, Bird seems to be leaving the scene too soon.

Watch him on the sidelines of Pacers games and he's almost stoic. Sure, he has been known to heat up on occasion when things go awry, but, basically, he's restrained and analytical.

What was thought to be his one weakness as a coach -- the inability to comprehend his players' mistakes, given his own tremendous talents as a player -- has been erased, in part because of his work developing Jalen Rose, among others. This season the Pacers went 56-26 and won the Central Division, and Saturday they'll attempt to complete a four-game sweep and oust the Philadelphia 76ers from the second round of the playoffs.

If he's inclined, Bird, 43, has much more to give beyond financing a team or sitting in its front office.

He should stay, Knight should go.