Travis Knight (born September 13, 1974) is a retired American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player who played seven seasons in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

(NBA). A 7'0"

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

from the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Hart ...

, he played under Hall of Fame head coach

Jim Calhoun James A. Calhoun (born May 10, 1942) is a longtime college basketball coach. He is best known for his tenure as head coach of the University of Connecticut (UConn) men's basketball team. His teams won three NCAA national championships ( 1999, ...

Career

Knight was drafted with the 29th overall pick in the first round of the

1996 NBA draft The 1996 NBA draft was the 50th draft in the National Basketball Association (NBA). It was held on June 26, 1996 at Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey. In this draft, NBA teams took turns selecting college basketball play ...

by the

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on January 1 ...

. In July 1996, less than a month after drafting Knight, the Bulls renounced the rights to sign Knight rather than give him the required three-year contract for first-round picks. He then signed with the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

. After playing in 71 games with the Lakers, which included 14 starts, an appearance in the rookie all-star game and averages of 4.8 points and 4.5 rebounds in 16.3 minutes per game, Knight was once again a free agent and signed a 7-year contract worth $22 million with the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

under new coach and general manager

Rick Pitino Richard Andrew Pitino (born September 18, 1952) is an American college basketball coach who is the head coach for Iona College. He was also the head coach of Greece's senior national team. He has been the head coach of several teams in NCAA D ...

.Knight Agrees To Celtics Deal
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', July 6, 1997 Upon signing the deal, Knight said, "I really have mixed emotions; I should be elated right now, but I'm not. I feel so much loyalty o the Lakers. After one season in which he averaged 6.5 points over 71 games with the Celtics, Knight was traded back to the Lakers for

Tony Battie Demetrius Antonio Battie (born February 11, 1976) is an American former professional basketball player. He works as an analyst for the Orlando Magic of the National Basketball Association (NBA). High school and college career Battie attended S ...

. He won a championship as a role player with the Lakers in 2000, averaging 1.6 points per game in 6.3 minutes in 71 games. In September 2000, Knight was sent to the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...

as part of a four-team trade which sent

Patrick Ewing Patrick Aloysius Ewing (born August 5, 1962) is a Jamaican-American basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach of the Georgetown University men's team. He played most of his career as the starting center for the New ...

to the

Seattle SuperSonics The Seattle SuperSonics (commonly known as the Seattle Sonics) were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the league's Western Confe ...

. Knight played his final 3

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

seasons in New York; he averaged between 5.7 and 9 minutes per game over those seasons and never more than 2 points per game as a bench player. He left the NBA in 2003 when the initial contract he signed in 1996 expired. Overall, Knight played in 7 NBA seasons from 1996 to 2003, appeared in 371 games over that time and scored a total of 1,276 points. He holds the NBA Playoff record for quickest disqualification, having fouled out in six minutes in game 4 of the 1999 Western Conference semi-finals.

Personal life

Knight is married to April Cowgill. Together they have 2 kids: Lyric and Phoenix Knight. He also has two daughters, Natasha and Skylar, from two previous relationships.

Notes

External links

NBA.com Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Knight, Travis 1974 births Living people American men's basketball players Basketball players from Salt Lake City Boston Celtics players Centers (basketball) Chicago Bulls draft picks Los Angeles Lakers players New York Knicks players People from Sandy, Utah UConn Huskies men's basketball players