“People were saying that I was done in this league and that I didn’t deserve to be here anymore,” recalls Knight. “They said that what I did to make teams better didn’t fit with what teams needed today.”
The eight-year NBA veteran paid no attention to the critics.
“I knew that I did deserve to be here,” he said. “All I needed to do was to find the right situation at the right time.
Knight certainly did find the right situation at the right time, and he made the most of it. He finished the season second in the league with 9.0 assists per game, first in assist-to-turnover ratio (4.02) and fifth with 1.98 steals per game.
On March 12 against the Lakers, he posted 17 assists without a turnover, the most assists by a player during the season without a turnover. Knight also recorded a team high and tied a career high with eight steals at Orlando on March 24.
"Brevin was our floor general. He took full advantage of the opportunity," said Bobcats Head Coach and General Manager Bernie Bickertstaff. "He was really the key to any kind of success we had. He was our most valuable player. I think his teammates would feel the same way."
For Knight, who was originally selected out of Stanford by the Cleveland Cavaliers with the 16th overall pick in the 1997 NBA Draft, coming to Charlotte was a chance for him to start fresh with a clean slate.
“Other teams would say about me, ‘He’s a great player, we can depend on him, but we want to go younger or we want to look bigger.’ There was always a but,” related Knight. “Luckily coming down here, there were no buts. It was put on the table to me straight forward. They said, ‘You will have a chance to play if you come in and work hard.’”
That was exactly the opportunity Knight was looking for as he worked to prove to himself and to others that he could still be a difference-maker in the league.
“Personally, I came in and did what I wanted to do,” he said. “I wanted first to show Bernie and this organization that I was serious about basketball. Then I wanted to show the NBA that I was serious about basketball.”
For Knight, a true point guard in every sense of the word, that meant directing the team’s offense and distributing the ball to open teammates. One of his best performances of the year came on January 11 as he dished out an NBA season-high and career-high tying 20 assists vs. Cleveland. Knight also recorded games with 19 and 18 assists, the top three assist outings in the NBA this season. 2004-05 NBA Most Valuable Player Steve Nash had three games with 18 assists, tying him with Knight for the third-best performance.
“I’m big on getting my teammates the ball at the right time and in the position to be productive,” he said. “With the offense we ran and the amount of time that the point guards had the ball in their hands, this was a conducive situation for me. I just told my teammates to get to those spots where they will be productive and the ball will be there.”
This ability to distribute the ball and play unselfishly helped Knight earn the respect of his teammates and coaches.
“If I’m a player, if I have someone there getting me the ball, then he’s got my respect,” said Bickerstaff. “He also earned the respect of his teammates by what he did in practice and just by the way he played the game.”
Knight is quick to offer the same respect to his teammates and coaches.
“Here the good thing was that guys were willing to play together and play hard,” he said. “One of the most surprising things for me was how unselfish the guys were. They were willing to do all the little things that it took to be a good team.”
He also points out that without the people surrounding him he wouldn’t have had the success he enjoyed this season.
“All of this is a credit to hard work, a credit to my teammates and to our coaching staff for putting us in a position where we could be successful,” he said. “As a team, we stuck together – through all the adversity, the record – we still stuck together and played hard. Of course you would like to win more games and be in the playoffs, but I think it’s a good start for this organization.”
Throughout a season full of ups and downs for the Bobcats, having a league-leading 21 games decided by three points or less, Knight recognizes that, along with the team, the Bobcats fans never gave up.
“I’ve never been on a team that’s never been booed. No matter what our record was, we were never booed,” he said. “That’s a big statement for a player to say about fans. I love our support. Next season moving into the new arena, it will be our real inaugural season because it will all be Bobcats. Hopefully they will all come back and we’ll have a better season.”
Knight entered the season with the goal of proving that he was capable of being successful in the NBA. Throughout the Bobcats’ inaugural season, he gained that proof and much more.
“It’s a great feeling whenever you can be a part of history,” Knight said. “In my career, it’s always something that I can look back on. I can tell my kids that daddy did this. It’s also good to share with the guys. We had fun.”
