Editing Bob Knight (section)

====1979 Pan American Games====
In 1978, Knight was named the head coach of the [[United States men's national basketball team|United States men's national team]] for the [[1979 Pan American Games]] in [[San Juan, Puerto Rico]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Knight picked to coach Pan American cage team |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/69294844/ |access-date=1 September 2024 |work=[[The Pantagraph]] |agency=[[Associated Press]] |date=13 December 1978 |page=B2 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}{{open access}}</ref> The team, which included players such as [[Isiah Thomas]] and [[Ralph Sampson]], trained together for more than 50 days and played in a tournament in Italy before arriving in Puerto Rico. During the games, Knight led the United States to a 9–0 record, with an average victory of 21.2 points, and gold medal.<ref name="si-papanek-79"/><ref name="Weber-2023" />

However, his behaviour during the games, where he feuded with referees, officials and made critical comments about Puerto Rico, was heavily criticized,<ref>{{cite news |author1=John Jeansonne |title=The final score…. |url=https://johnfjeansonne.medium.com/the-final-score-7102653b65e8 |access-date=31 August 2024 |work=[[Medium.com]] |date=3 November 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author1=Neil Amdur |title=Knight Scolded |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/07/04/archives/knight-scolded-us-five-wins-team-pulls-together-very-serious.html |access-date=31 August 2024 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=4 July 1979}}{{closed access}}</ref> including by the president of the Basketball Federation of Puerto Rico, Arturo C. Gallardo, in a lengthy article in the [[New York Times]].<ref>{{cite news |author1=Arturo C. Gallardo |title=In the Matter of Bobby Knight: The View From Puerto Rico |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/12/30/archives/in-the-matter-of-bobby-knight-the-view-from-puerto-rico-remark.html |access-date=31 August 2024 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=30 December 1979}}{{closed access}}</ref> During the first game, with the United States leading by 35 points, he was ejected for arguing with referees and in another incident during a practice session, Knight was accused of assaulting the policeman guarding the gymnasium and was arrested.<ref name="officer" /> Both Knight and assistant coach [[Mike Krzyzewski]] refuted the policeman's version of the incident, with Krzyzewski stating "It's really unbelievable, the out-and-out lies that are being told. It's like my standing here and saying that my name is not Mike Krzyzewski, that it's Fred Taylor."<ref name="si-papanek-79">{{cite magazine |author1=John Papanek |title=Triumph and turmoil in the Pan-Am games |url=https://vault.si.com/vault/1979/07/23/triumph-and-turmoil-in-the-pan-am-games-his-basketball-players-won-gold-medals-but-coach-bobby-knight-precipitated-an-ugly-uproar-with-his-controversial-behavior-in-san-juan |access-date=31 August 2024 |magazine=[[Sports Illustrated]] |date=23 July 1979 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310222228/https://vault.si.com/vault/1979/07/23/triumph-and-turmoil-in-the-pan-am-games-his-basketball-players-won-gold-medals-but-coach-bobby-knight-precipitated-an-ugly-uproar-with-his-controversial-behavior-in-san-juan |archive-date=10 March 2021}}</ref> Knight was later charged with assault and summoned to appear before a judge but left the island before trial was held and refused to return with Indiana officials further rejecting Puerto Rican's extradition requests. He was later tried in absentia, found guilty and sentenced to a six-month prison term and a 500 dollar fine. Following a [[United States Supreme Court]] ruling in 1987 that overturned a law which gave state governors the power to reject extradition requests and opened up the possibility of his extradition to Puerto Rico, Knight wrote a letter to the [[Puerto Rico Olympic Committee]], [[Germán Rieckehoff]], apologizing for the incident. Rieckehoff "urged the Commonwealth not to consider any further legal action against Knight".<ref>{{cite news |title=Bobby Knight apologizes to Puerto Ricans for 1979 incident |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1987/07/22/Bobby-Knight-apologizes-to-Puerto-Ricans-for-1979-incident/3493553924800/ |access-date=31 August 2024 |work=[[United Press International]] |date=22 July 1987}}</ref>