Legendary Basketball Coach Bob Knight Was Battling Dementia in Recent Years

The Gist:

• Bobby Knight was one of the most famous college basketball coaches of all-time, and he died at 83.
• Bobby was best known as the coach of the Indiana Hoosiers, a team he coached for 29 years.
• Bobby once threw a chair onto the court during a game.

Although his winning on the court was legendary, college basketball coach Bob Knight is remembered at least in part because of his tempestuous behavior on the sidelines. Now, following news of his death at the age of 83, many want to learn more about Bob Knight, including whether all of the stories about his volatile behavior are true.

Among the things many are curious about, though, many want to better understand what Bob's cause of death was. The notoriously volatile public figure had receded from public life in recent years, but here's everything you need to know about Bob Knight and his death.

Bob's death was announced by his family, who released a statement. "It is with heavy hearts that we share that Coach Bob Knight passed away at his home in Bloomington surrounded by his family," the statement read. "We are grateful for all the thoughts and prayers and appreciate the continued respect for our privacy. Coach requested a private family gathering, which is being honored."

The family asked for donations to be made to the Alzheimer's Association or Marian University.

Bob was reportedly suffering from Alzheimer's disease and dementia near the end of his life, and while no official cause of death has been released, it seems likely that those symptoms played a role in his death. Long before he had been diagnosed, though, Bob became infamous in part because he threw a chair during a game.

During a 1985 game when Bob was coaching Indiana and they were playing Purdue, the team was charged with two successive fouls in quick succession, which caused Bob to pick up a red chair from the sidelines and throw it across the court. Bob, who had already received his first technical foul, received his second and third fouls and was ejected from the game. He was also given a two-year probation from the Big 10 for his actions.

Bob was best known as the coach of the Indiana Hoosiers, a team he coached from 1971 until 2000. Before that, though, he was the head coach for the Army team from 1965-1971. After leaving Indiana, Bob spent eight seasons as the coach of Texas Tech from 2001-2008.

Bobby got to end his career on his own terms in 2008, when he announced his retirement from coaching. At the time, his son, Pat Knight, took over the coaching job at Texas Tech. Pat even said that his father was exhausted from all of his years of coaching, and was ready to retire.