How will he fit in? Hmmm, that was a tough one. How would a 6-foot-11 kid who could move and shoot threes, who was rated as one of the top 100 prep players in the country, who was a future Los Angeles Laker - how would a kid like that fit in? Carling said he'd figure something out.
Later that night he called Greg at home. "You weren't kidding, were you? You're really moving here?"
Knight led Alta High School to the state championship that year and was named the Deseret News Player of the Year, but ever since then people have continued to wonder how he would fit in. He was too skinny. He lacked post skills. He was a wannabe guard. His work ethic was suspect. Jim Harrick, then the UCLA coach, visited Knight and instead of laying all the usual recruiting gush on the kid, he told him, "To succeed, you're going to have to get out of your home-run trot."
Knight chose to attend the University of Connecticut over Utah and BYU, among others. "He'll never be able to play at UConn," Ute assistant coach Donny Daniels told Greg. "He's too slow. He doesn't have the game for that style of play."
Knight helped the Huskies become a national powerhouse for two years and was an academic All-American. The world champion Chicago Bulls made him the 29th player taken in NBA draft, then tried to pack him off to Europe - apparently, he didn't fit it in yet and was considered a project - but Knight nixed that. He became a free agent and had his pick of six teams - Milwaukee, Miami, Orlando, New York, Boston, L.A. Wooed personally by Jerry West, he signed a guaranteed one-year contract with the Lakers.
"Why did he sign with the Lakers?" Daniels asked Greg when he saw him again last summer. "He'll never get off the bench."
Wrong again. Knight, the gangly, unheralded 7-foot rookie, played in 71 of 82 regular-season games and started 14 of them. At times he was magnificent - 18 points, 14 boards against the Nets, 18 points, 13 boards against the Knicks. Earlier this week, "White Knight," as his teammates call him, was chosen to the NBA's 10-man all-rookie team, finishing one place ahead of teammate Kobe Bryant in the voting.
"This has been beyond his wildest dreams," says Paula Knight, Travis' mother. But that isn't quite right. Greg, who played basketball for Olympus High and Dixie College, says he "held the dream out there," for his son. "People say don't talk to him about playing in the NBA," he explains, "but we knew he was going to be tall, and if he has the ability, why not?"
You could never see the refrigerator in the Knight's home in Sandy. It was always covered with basketball schedules. The Knights had eight children - the first seven in nine years - and every one of them grew tall, which is what you would expect from a 6-foot-6 father and a 5-10 mother.
There were nights when the Knights couldn't figure out how they were going to see all the games. Their solution: split up and attended different games. Once they listened to the radio to hear Shane and BYU play in the title game of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament while watching Travis and Alta High play in the state championship.
"We were actually bored when the season was over," says Paula. "No games, what are we going to do?"
Shane finished his basketball career at BYU. Brandon, 12, plays in youth leagues and is already trying to decide whether to turn pro after high school. Nathan just finished his freshman season at Oregon State and will leave later this month on an LDS Church mission. Adam is a sophomore at Alta. And then there is Travis, whose NBA affiliation has made things awkward for the Knights in their Sandy neighborhood. As luck would have it, the Lakers are playing the hometown Jazz in the playoffs.
"I asked a neighbor to take down their Jazz sign," says Paula with a smile.
The Knights have lived their married life in Sandy, except for a seven-year stay in California. Greg was a contractor, and when the construction business nose-dived in Utah, he moved to San Diego. While he was gone, the construction business boomed in Utah and nose-dived in California. Finally, Knight bought a mattress retail business in Utah and returned to the family to their house in Sandy. Travis had one year left in high school.
"With so many kids, we were bound to disrupt somebody," says Greg.
Travis had just helped the local high school win a rare championship and the team's fans were none too anxious to see him leave. It was suggested that he stay behind, but the Knights weren't about to split up their family a year early. Some fans turned mean. A local newspaper said the Knights had eight children; surely they could spare one.
Leaving behind friends, teammates, a girlfriend and a familiar environment, Travis came to Sandy with a chip on his shoulder. "His attitude was basically, I don't want to be here; I'm not happy and I'll make your life miserable," says Carling. "It lasted about six months."
"He did have an attitude," says Paula.
Both Carling and Knight agree that things weren't smooth between them. Carling didn't think Knight worked hard enough. Knight thought Carling was a control freak. It was a difficult year. Maybe Knight didn't fit in, after all. Against high expectations, Knight's play was erratic, and the team suffered through a four-game losing streak in February, finishing no better than third in region play.
Knight's confidence waxed and waned. Carling still remembers an incident from the state playoffs that year. The Hawks blew a big lead by missing free throws and easy shots. During a timeout in the final minute, Knight told Carling, "Coach, I can't make a free throw. Take me out."
Carling was dumbfounded. "You're going to the Big East," he said. "If I take you out, it cuts the heart out of our team." The Hawks survived and went on to win the championship.
Looking back, Knight says, "I wasn't excited to come out here. I guess things happen for a reason. If I wouldn't have come out here, I probably wouldn't have gone to UConn. I probably would have gone to a local school in California. But it wasn't the best year of my life."
Says Carling, "I have a lot of respect for Travis, because he went out and made something of himself."
The Knight family is predictably proud too, and they're making the most of Travis' NBA adventure. Brandon wants to take him to school for Show and Tell and has one of Shaq's shoes on display in his room. His sister Natalie wants to meet Bryant. Nathan has requested Robert Horry's autograph. Shane and Greg offer their advice.
"Get shooting the ball again," Greg told Travis at a family barbecue following the first playoff loss to Utah.
The future is bright for White Knight. He'll be a free agent at the end of the season, and Greg says there is a lot of interest in him from other teams. He could sign with a new team next season if the Lakers don't have room under the salary cap to keep him. He'll fit in somewhere.