Knight's younger brother, Brandin, is in his first year as an assistant coach at Pittsburgh. Brandin Knight helped lead Pitt to consecutive Sweet 16 appearances as a player and returned to coach at the school, working his way up from a video coordinator and director of Basketball operations. Like his brother, Brandin made it to the NBA, but he played only one game with Houston (Jan. 17, 2005) before a knee injury cut short his career.
Q: Does he ever call you for advice? A: He calls me on how to try to stay a little bit calm because he expects so much. That was the type of player he was and the coach that he is that he wants people to play a certain way all the time. He just calls me to give him a moment to vent and get it all out and then he goes from there.
Q: Does his experience give you any thoughts about being a coach yourself?
A: I never close any door. I never say no to anything. I do tell people that he knew that's what he wanted to do, whereas for me it would have to be something that comes along in terms of doing it. I love the game. Sometimes I think what would it be like to have to coach someone like myself? That's kind of what spins in my head.
Q: He played one game in the NBA in his career. Does he go around introducing himself as former Houston Rocket Brandin Knight?
A: The good thing about him is he's realistic. I always felt like he had the talent to be here and timing just didn't work out for him and then when he got hurt, he had to make a decision of "Do I want to keep trying or do I move on to the next stage of my life?" He made a great decision and I'm very proud of him. Game of the week
Jazz at Denver, Thursday, 8:30 p.m., TNT ? The Jazz's hopes of claiming a third consecutive Northwest Division crown could hinge on beating the Nuggets.
