Isiah Thomas’ Championship Victory Was a Tribute to 40th US President, as Per Legendary Coach

Isiah Thomas led the Indiana Hoosiers to the NCAA championship game in 1981. But on March 30th, hours before Thomas and his team were set to face the North Carolina Tar Heels for the title, news broke of the assassination attempt against the 40th President of the United States of America, Ronald Reagan.

Although there were many questions on whether the game should be postponed because of this, the committee decided to let the game play out as scheduled once Reagan got out of surgery. This gave Isiah Thomas and coach Bob Knight the perfect chance to pay the ultimate tribute to Reagan.

When asked about what was happening behind the scenes of making that decision in an episode of Undeniable with Joe Buck, Bob Knight revealed, “I said Reagan wouldn’t like that. I said Reagan plays to win. And he would not like us not to play. He would expect that we would both want our kids to go out there and play like hell.“

The Detroit Pistons legend and the rest of the team were watching the Days of Our Lives soap opera when the news initially broke out. While they did not have any input on whether the game should be held or not, when it was decided, they gave it their all.

The Hoosiers took down the Tar Heels with a score of 60-53. “I think that may be the best game there ever was. I think it’s a real tribute to Reagan those kids felt that way and gave everything they had,” said Bob Knight.

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Bob Knight made sure Isiah Thomas and the team did not lose focus

While most people around the nation were wondering if the president was alright, Bob Knight wanted his players to focus on just the game. So, he did not reveal to them that there were any talks of the game being played.

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Although all the players knew about the incident, Bob Knight did not mention the president’s name to them even once. The only names he kept repeating to them were James Worthy, Sam Perkins, and Al Wood.

Knight made it his mission to make the players focus only on the game. This worked out in the end, as the team lifted the championship trophy at the end of the day.

What do you think of Isiah Thomas and his team winning the 1981 NCAA championship as a tribute to the president? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!