It Took Help to Get Knight in Hall of Fame

The gruffness was replaced by humility Monday as Indiana Coach Bob Knight awaited induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass.

“I’m not taking anything away from how I feel about the honor when I say this, but I’m really pleased for people other than me,” Knight said. “Now they can know their time was not wasted. . . .

“If I couldn’t coach with the people who had helped me, I might as well go out and fish for the rest of my life.”

Also entering the Hall of Fame were point guard Nate (Tiny) Archibald, and two big men: Dave Cowens, who played most of his pro career with the Boston Celtics, and Harry Gallatin, who starred for the New York Knicks during the late 1940s and 1950s.

Also inducted were former NBA commissioner Larry O’Brien, who died last September; Boris Stankovic, head of the International Basketball Federation; and the late Larry Fleisher, who founded the NBA Players Assn. and served as its head for 25 years.