Monday, December 2, 2013

Who is Michael William Krzyzewski?

Who is Who is Michael William Krzyzewski? The sports world knows him as  "Coach K";  Krzyzewski   is an American basketball coach and former player. Since 1980, he has served as the head Duke University. At Duke, Krzyzewski has led the Blue Devils to four NCAA Championships, 11 Final Fours, 12 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) regular season titles, and 13 ACC Tournament championships. Krzyzewski is also the coach of the United States men's national basketball team, whom he led to two gold medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics and 2012 Summer Olympics. He was the head coach of the American team that won the gold medal at the 2010 FIBA World Championship. He was also an assistant coach on the 1992 "Dream Team".

men's basketball coach at
From 1975 to 1980, Krzyzewski was the head basketball coach at the United States Military Academy, where he played from 1966 to 1969 under Bob Knight. Krzyzewski has amassed a record 79 NCAA tournament victories, while averaging 25 wins per season.[1] He was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame following the 2001 season. On November 15, 2011, Krzyzewski led Duke to a 74–69 victory over Michigan State at Madison Square Garden to become the winningest coach in NCAA Division I men's basketball history. Krzyzewski's 903rd victory set a new record, breaking that held by his former coach, Bob Knight.

Early years and playing career


Krzyzewski was  born February 13, 1947 in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Polish American, Christian parents Emily M. (née Pituch) and William Krzyzewski.[2][3] The family name was originally Krzyżewski (IPA: [kʂɨˈʐɛfskʲi]), and while the general public pronounces it /ʃəˈʃɛfski/ shə-SHEF-ski, his own pronunciation is /ʒəˈʒɛvski/ zhə-ZHEV-ski.[4] He has roots in the Pittsburgh area, as his maternal grandparents emigrated from Poland to Keisterville, Pennsylvania. Up until he was 10 or 12, he visited there every summer; Krzyzewski had stated that he suspects the purpose of such trips was to "teach you to know where you came from and to be proud of it."[5]
Raised as a Catholic, Krzyzewski attended Archbishop Weber High School in Chicago, a Catholic prep school for boys.[6] He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, in 1969, and played basketball under Bob Knight while training to become an officer in the Army. He was captain of the Army basketball team in his senior season, 1968–69, leading his team to the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
From 1969 to 1974, Krzyzewski served in the Army and directed service teams for three years. In 2005 he was presented West Point's Distinguished Graduate Award.[7]

Coaching career

Indiana and Army

Krzyzewski resigned from active duty in 1974 and started his coaching career as an assistant on Knight's staff with the Indiana Hoosiers during their historic 1974–75 season. After one year with Indiana, Krzyzewski returned to West Point as head coach of the Army Cadets. He led the Cadets to a 73–59 record and one NIT berth in five seasons, before leaving to coach at Duke.

Duke

On March 18, 1980, Krzyzewski was named the head coach at Duke University after five seasons at Army.[8] After a few rebuilding seasons, he and the Blue Devils became a fixture on the national basketball scene with 28 NCAA Tournament berths in the past 29 years and 18 consecutive from 1996 to 2013, which is the second-longest current streak of tournament appearances behind Kansas, which has appeared in the tournament in 24 consecutive seasons. Overall, he has taken his program to postseason play in 30 of his 33 years at Duke and is the most winning active coach in men's NCAA Tournament play with a 79–24 record for a .767 winning percentage. His Duke teams have won 13 ACC Championships, been to 11 Final Fours, and won four NCAA tournament National Championships.
On February 13, 2010, Krzyzewski coached in his 1000th game as the Duke head coach. On March 20, 2011, Krzyzewski won his 900th game, becoming the second of three head coaches to coach at least 900 D1 wins, the other two being Jim Boeheim at Syracuse and his head coach at Army, Bob Knight.[9] On November 15, 2011, Krzyzewski got his 903rd win passing Knight's record for most Division I wins. In an interview of both men on ESPN the previous night, Krzyzewski discussed the leadership skills he learned from Knight and the United States Military Academy. Knight credited Krzyzewski's understanding of himself and his players as keys to his success over the years.[10]

International

Krzyzewski has been the head coach of several USA men's national teams, winning a silver medal at the 1987 World University Games, a bronze medal at the 1990 FIBA World Championship, a silver medal at the 1990 Goodwill Games, a bronze medal at the 2006 FIBA World Championship, and gold medals at the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship, the 2010 FIBA World Championship, and repeat gold medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics and 2012 Summer Olympics. He was also an assistant coach to the USA teams which won gold medals at the 1984 and 1992 Olympics as well as the 1979 Pan American Games Team and 1992 Tournament of the Americas.
In 2005, he was appointed coach of the national team through the Beijing Olympics. In the 2006 FIBA World Championship, the USA won the bronze medal after losing in the semifinals to Greece and then beating defending Olympic gold medalist Argentina for third place. On August 24, 2008, Krzyzewski's U.S. team won the gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. "The Redeem Team" finished the tournament with a perfect 8–0 record. He coached the U.S. team for the 2010 FIBA World Championship and led Team USA to a perfect 8-0 record, defeating host Turkey in the gold medal game, 81–64. His team won a second Olympic gold in London, defeating runners-up Spain 107-100. Krzyzewski has amassed a total record of 62–1 (.984) as head coach of the USA National Team.[11] The team has captured four golds (FIBA Americas Championship 2007, 2008 Summer Olympics, the 2010 FIBA World Championship and the 2012 Summer Olympics) and one bronze (2006 FIBA World Championship). Krzyzewski unofficially stepped down after seven years of coaching the United States men's national basketball team on February 26, 2013 on ESPN Radio's Mike and Mike in the Morning.[12]

Awards and recognition

During his long tenure at Duke, Krzyzewski has been given the opportunity to coach in the NBA at least five times. The first time came after the 1990 season when he led the Blue Devils to their third straight Final Four appearance. The Boston Celtics offered a coaching position to Krzyzewski, but he soon declined their offer. The next season, Krzyzewski proceeded to lead the Blue Devils to the first of two straight national championships. In 1994, he was pursued by the Portland Trail Blazers, but again he chose to stay with Duke. In 2004, Krzyzewski was also interviewed by the Los Angeles Lakers following the departure of high-profile coach Phil Jackson. He was given a formal offer from Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak, reportedly for five years, $40 million and part ownership, but again turned down the NBA. In 2010, the New Jersey Nets were reportedly willing to pay Krzyzewski between $12 million and $15 million per season to coach the Nets. Krzyzewski again declined the offer and stayed at Duke.[13] In 2011, Krzyzewski was offered the vacant coaching position for the Minnesota Timberwolves
Duke has named the floor at its basketball venue, Cameron Indoor Stadium, "Coach "K" Court" in his honor. Similarly, the grassy area outside of Cameron has been named Krzyzewskiville or "K-Ville." On February 28, 2007, Duke named its new basketball practice facility the "Michael W. Krzyzewski Center" — Dedicated to Academic & Athletic Excellence. The 56,000-square-foot (5,200 m2) building was dedicated on February 8, 2008, and also houses the Academic Support Center for all of Duke's 600 student-athletes and an expanded Sports Hall of Fame and event center.
His alma mater inducted him into its sports hall of fame on September 11, 2009, the night before the Army vs. Duke football game.[14] Additionally, West Point annually awards the "Coach K Teaching Character Through Sports" award each spring to cadets and coaches who display superior ethics and character through sport.[15]
Krzyzewski has won the following awards:

Coaching tree


10 of Krzyzewski's players and assistant coaches have become head coaches at other schools:
Two former players—Steve Wojciechowski and Jeff Capel—currently work under him as assistants at Duke. Another former player and assistant, Nate James, works under him as a special assistant. No team coached by one of Krzyzewski's former players has beaten the Blue Devils. Krzyzewski has also coached NBA general managers: Danny Ferry, of the Atlanta Hawks, and Billy King, of the Brooklyn Nets. Former player and captain Chip Engelland has served as assistant coach and shooting specialist to the San Antonio Spurs since 2005, Quin Snyder is an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Lakers, Bob Bender is an assistant coach for the Atlanta Hawks and Chris Carrawell, is an assistant coach for the Springfield Armor of the NBDL.[18] Christian Laettner is the assistant coach of the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the NBA Development League.

Family and charity

Krzyzewski married his wife, Carol "Mickie" Marsh, in the Catholic chapel at West Point on the day of his [19] His charitable activities have included the Emily Krzyzewski Center, a community center in Durham named after his mother, as well as the Duke Children’s Hospital, the Children's Miracle Network, and the V Foundation for Cancer Research.[6]
graduation in 1969. They have three daughters and eight grandchildren.

 

 

 

 

 

Head coaching record

Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Army Cadets (NCAA Division I Independent) (1975–1980)
1975–76 Army 11–14


1976–77 Army 20–8


1977–78 Army 19–9

NIT 1st Round
1978–79 Army 14–11


1979–80 Army 9–17


Army: 73–59 (.553)

Duke Blue Devils (Atlantic Coast Conference) (1980–present)
1980–81 Duke 17–13 6–8 T–5th NIT Quarterfinals
1981–82 Duke 10–17 4–10 T–6th
1982–83 Duke 11–17 3–11 7th
1983–84 Duke 24–10 7–7 T–3rd NCAA Round of 32
1984–85 Duke 23–8 8–6 T–4th NCAA Round of 32
1985–86 Duke 37–3 12–2 1st NCAA Runner-up
1986–87 Duke 24–9 9–5 3rd NCAA Sweet Sixteen
1987–88 Duke 28–7 9–5 3rd NCAA Final Four
1988–89 Duke 28–8 9–5 T–2nd NCAA Final Four
1989–90 Duke 29–9 9–5 2nd NCAA Runner-up
1990–91 Duke 32–7 11–3 1st NCAA Champions
1991–92 Duke 34–2 14–2 1st NCAA Champions
1992–93 Duke 24–8 10–6 T–3rd NCAA Round of 32
1993–94 Duke 28–6 12–4 1st NCAA Runner-up
1994–95 Duke 9–3[n 1] 1–1[n 1] [n 1]
1995–96 Duke 18–13 8–8 T–4th NCAA Round of 64
1996–97 Duke 24–9 12–4 1st NCAA Round of 32
1997–98 Duke 32–4 15–1 1st NCAA Elite Eight
1998–99 Duke 37–2 16–0 1st NCAA Runner-up
1999–00 Duke 29–5 15–1 1st NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2000–01 Duke 35–4 13–3 T–1st NCAA Champions
2001–02 Duke 31–4 13–3 2nd NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2002–03 Duke 26–7 11–5 T–2nd NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2003–04 Duke 31–6 13–3 1st NCAA Final Four
2004–05 Duke 27–6 11–5 3rd NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2005–06 Duke 32–4 14–2 1st NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2006–07 Duke 22–11 8–8 6th NCAA Round of 64
2007–08 Duke 28–6 13–3 2nd NCAA Round of 32
2008–09 Duke 30–7 11–5 T–2nd NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2009–10 Duke 35–5 13–3 T–1st NCAA Champions
2010–11 Duke 32–5 13–3 2nd NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2011–12 Duke 27–7 13–3 2nd NCAA Round of 64
2012–13 Duke 30–6 14–4 2nd NCAA Elite Eight
Duke: 884–238 (.788) 350–153 (.696)
Total: 957–297 (.763)
      National champion         Conference regular season champion         Conference tournament champion
      Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference division champion











 

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Sunday, December 1, 2013

Who is Arsenio Hall?

Who is Arsenio Hall? The entertainment and comic world knows Hall as an American actor, comedian and talk show host. He is best known for hosting The Arsenio Hall Show,[4] a late-night talk show that ran from
1989 until 1994, and a revival of the same show beginning in September 2013.
Other television shows and films Hall has appeared in are Martial Law, Star Search (host), Coming to America (1988) and Harlem Nights (1989). Hall is also known for his appearance as Alan Thicke's sidekick on the talk show Thicke of the Night.
In 2012, Hall was the winning contestant on NBC's reality-competition game show Celebrity Apprentice 5.[5]

Early years

Arsenio was born February 12, 1956 in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of Fred and Anne Hall. His father is a Baptist minister.[6] Hall performed as a magician when he was a child. He graduated from Warrensville Heights High School in Warrensville Heights, Ohio in 1973.[7] After he graduated, he attended Ohio University, where he was on the speech team with Nancy Cartwright and Leon Harris.[3] He then transferred to and graduated from Kent State University.

Career


Hall later moved to Chicago, and then Los Angeles, to pursue a career in comedy, making a couple of appearances on Soul Train. In 1984, he was the announcer/sidekick for Alan Thicke during the short-lived talk show Thicke of the Night (a role for which he has on occasion noted his confusion with Monty Hall). Arsenio was the original voice of Winston Zeddemore in the cartoon The Real Ghostbusters from 1986–1987. In 1988, he co-starred in the comedy film Coming to America with Eddie Murphy.

Talk shows

In 1986, the Fox network introduced The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers, created to directly challenge The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. After a moderate start, ratings for the show sagged. Behind-the-scenes relations between Rivers and network executives at Fox quickly eroded, and Rivers left in 1987.[8] The series was subsequently renamed The Late Show, and featured several hosts, including Ross Shafer, Suzanne Somers, Richard Belzer and Robert Townsend before it was cancelled in 1988.[9] Hall was also chosen to host the show in the fall of 1987, and his stint proved to be immensely popular, developing a cult following which eventually led to Hall landing his own show in syndication.[10]
From January 2, 1989 until May 27, 1994, he had a Paramount contract to host a nationwide syndicated late night talk show, The Arsenio Hall Show. The show became a breakout, late-night success, especially rating high among the coveted younger demographic and known for its audience's distinctive alternative to applause: chanting "Woof, Woof, Woof!," while pumping their fists. The practice soon became such a ritual that by 1991 had become a "pop culture stamp of approval" — one that Hall said had become "so popular it's getting on people's nerves."[11] The gesture made it into films of the time: the title character played by Julia Roberts did it in a polo scene in Pretty Woman (1990), and characters played by Penny Marshall and Michael J. Fox did it in The Hard Way.[11] In Disney's Aladdin (1992), the Genie character voiced by Robin Williams performs the gesture while mimicking the physical appearance of Hall. This popular gesture can also be found in the 1993 Mel Brooks' comedy, Robin Hood: Men in Tights. It was also seen in the movie Passenger 57, in which an old woman confuses the character played by Wesley Snipes with Arsenio Hall. After saving the day, the passengers on the hijacked plane do the gesture toward the protagonist.
He also had a rivalry with Jay Leno, after the latter was named host of The Tonight Show, during which time Hall said that he would "kick Jay's ass" in ratings.[12]
Hall used his fame during this period to help fight worldwide prejudice against HIV/AIDS, after Magic Johnson contracted the disease. Hall and Johnson filmed a PSA about the disease that aired in the early 1990s.[13]

Other television and radio work

Between 1988—1991, Hall hosted the MTV Video Music Awards.[1] Over the years, he has appeared as a guest on numerous talk shows, in special features, as a voice actor, on game shows and other award shows. Since The Arsenio Hall Show ended, Hall had a leading role on television shows such as the






hort-lived sitcom Arsenio (1997) and Martial Law with Sammo Hung (1999—2000), as well as hosted the revival of Star Search (2003—2004). While hosting Star Search, he popularized the catchphrase "Hit me with the digits!".Hall appeared as himself in Chappelle's Show in March 2004, when Chappelle was imagining "what Arsenio is doing right now" in a dinner scene.[14] Hall has guest co-hosted Wednesday evenings on The Tim Conway Jr. Show on KLSX 97.1 FM radio.[15] Hall also hosted MyNetworkTV's comedic web video show The World's Funniest Moments and TV One's 100 Greatest Black Power Moves.[16] Hall also appeared on Real Time with Bill Maher in May 2012, in a discussion commemorating the 1992 Los Angeles riots.[17]
Hall was considered to be the host of the syndicated version of Deal or No Deal and filmed a pilot (there were six taped).[18][19] However, by the time the syndicated series began on September 8, 2008, Howie Mandel was chosen as the host.
He also appeared regularly on The Jay Leno Show, and was a guest on Lopez Tonight.[20] George Lopez credits Arsenio for being the reason he had a late night show; Lopez appeared on The Arsenio Hall Show more times than any other comedian. Lopez requested Hall be a co-host on Lopez Tonight (November 25, 2009) since he regarded Hall as his inspiration and the first "late night party show host".[21][22][23][24][25] Hall has filled-in as guest host for NBC's Access Hollywood Live (2011) and CNN's evening talk/interview program Piers Morgan Tonight in 2012.
In 2012, Hall was a contestant on the fifth edition of The Celebrity Apprentice, which began airing February 19, 2012.[26] Hall represented his charity, the Magic Johnson Foundation, which is dedicated to advancing economic and social equality by engaging minorities in every aspect of their communities; increasing academic and innovative achievement; and raising HIV/AIDS awareness, treatment and prevention. While Hall clashed with Aubrey O'Day, he befriended a majority of the cast.[2][3] On May 20, 2012, in the live season finale, Hall was chosen as the Celebrity Apprentice winner, being "hired" by billionaire real estate investor Donald Trump over the other celebrity finalist, singer Clay Aiken. For winning The Celebrity Apprentice, Hall won the $250,000 grand prize for his charity, in addition to any money he won for his charity for tasks he and his team won when he was a team leader on the show.[27][28][29][30]
A revival of Hall's syndicated late-night talk show, The Arsenio Hall Show, premiered September 9, 2013 on Tribune owned stations and other networks via CBS Television Distribution.[31]

Personal life

Hall has one son, born in 1999.[32] Since his birth, Hall mostly took time off to raise his son before resuming The Arsenio Hall Show in 2013.[4] Hall had an interest in returning to the business eventually, but his decision wasn't confirmed until he appeared on Lopez Tonight in 2009 (although he initially considered a weekend show because he didn't want to compete in ratings against his friend George Lopez).[5]
According to reports in 2009, Arsenio made it public that he had dated Paula Abdul in the past, dating back over 20 years earlier.[33][34]
When asked about his charity selection on The Celebrity Apprentice, Hall said that about a month or so before he agreed to be on the show, his cousin died due to HIV/AIDS. He also stated that he'd spend the rest of his life fighting in her memory. 





s

Recognition

Filmography

Film

List of film performances
Year Title Role Notes
1987 Amazon Women on the Moon Apartment Victim
1988 Coming to America Semmi/Extremely Ugly Girl/Morris/Reverend Brown
1989 Harlem Nights Crying Man
1989 Paula Abdul: Straight Up Himself (Video)
1992 Time Out: The Truth About HIV, AIDS, and You Himself – Host (Video)
1994 Blankman Himself
2005 The Naked Brothers Band: The Movie Himself
2005 The Proud Family Movie Dr. Carver/Bobby Proud (Voice)
2006 Scooby-Doo! Pirates Ahoy! Captain Crothers (Voice)
2007 Heckler Himself
2008 Igor Carl Cristall (Voice)
2009 Black Dynamite Tasty Freeze
2011 The Vote-Off Himself (Short)

Television

List of television performances
Year Title Role Notes
1981, 1989 Soul Train Himself 2 episodes
1982 Madame's Place Himself
1982 Elvira's Movie Macabre Dr. Mustapha Abdul Raheem Jamaal X Muhammad/Tyrone
1983 The 1/2 Hour Comedy Hour Himself – Host
1983–1984 Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour Himself
1983–1984 Thicke of the Night Actor / Himself (1984)
1985 The Motown Revue Starring Smokey Robinson Actor / Regular
1985 New Love, American Style Actor
1986 The New Alfred Hitchcock Presents Cleavon
1986–1987 The Real Ghostbusters Winston Zeddemore
1987 Uptown Comedy Express Himself
1987 Comedy Club Himself
1987–1988 The Late Show Himself – Host
1988 Solid Gold Himself
1989 Comic Relief III Himself
1989–1994 The Arsenio Hall Show Himself – Host
1989, 1992 Live! with Regis and Kathie Lee Himself 2 episodes
1989 The Phil Donahue Show Himself
1990 Doogie Howser, M.D. Himself
1990 Cheers Himself
1991 The Howard Stern Show Himself
1992 Ebony/Jet Showcase Himself
1992 The Jackie Thomas Show Himself
1993 Blossom Himself
1994 Living Single Himself
1996–2012 The Tonight Show with Jay Leno Himself Multiple appearances
1996–2008 Biography Himself 5 episodes
1997 The Rosie O'Donnell Show Himself
1997 Arsenio Michael Atwood
1997 Behind the Music Himself
1997 The Chris Rock Show Himself
1997 Muppets Tonight Himself
1998 Intimate Portrait Himself – Narrator
1998 The Magic Hour Himself
1998–2000 Martial Law Terrell Parker
2000 The Norm Show Joe
2001 E! True Hollywood Story Himself
2002–2003 Hollywood Squares Himself
2003–2004 Star Search Himself – Host
2003 Real Time with Bill Maher Himself
2003 Tinseltown TV Himself
2004 CBS Cares Himself
2004 The Wayne Brady Show Himself
2004 Tavis Smiley Himself
2004 The Sharon Osbourne Show Himself
2004 Chappelle's Show Himself
2008–2009 The World's Funniest Moments Himself – Host
2008 Pioneers of Television (PBS) Himself 2 episodes
2009–2010 The Jay Leno Show Himself – Correspondent
2009 Brothers Himself
2009 Up Close with Carrie Keagan Himself
2009 Made in Hollywood Himself
2010, 2012 Late Night with Jimmy Fallon Himself – Alternate Reality Host 2 episodes
2010, 2012 Chelsea Lately Himself (2010) / Soundtrack (2012)
2010 Tosh.0 Himself
2011 Lopez Tonight Himself
2011 Access Hollywood Live Himself – Guest Host
2012 Inside Edition Himself
2012 The Celebrity Apprentice 5 Himself Winner of competition
2012 Piers Morgan Tonight Himself – Guest Host
2012 American Masters Himself
2012 The Wendy Williams Show Himself
2013–present The Arsenio Hall Show Himself – Host

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Who is Marion Hugh Knight.?

Who is Marion  Knight, Jr.? The entertainment and music world knows him as Suge Knight. Knight is the founder and CEO of Black Kapital Records and co-founder and former CEO of Death Row


Records. Death Row Records rose to dominate the rap charts after Dr. Dre's breakthrough album The Chronic in 1992. After several years of chart successes for artists including Tupac Shakur, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Outlawz and Tha Dogg Pound, Death Row Records stagnated after Knight's incarceration on parole violation charges in September 1996.

Early life

Marion Hugh Knight was born April 19, 1965 in Compton, California. His name, Suge, derives from "Sugar Bear", a childhood nickname.[1] He attended Lynwood High School in nearby Lynwood, California, where he was a football and track star. He graduated in 1983. From 1983 to 1985, he attended El Camino College on a football scholarship.[2] In 1985, he transferred to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and played there for two years.[3]
After college, Knight was not drafted by an NFL team, but was cut during training camp by the Los Angeles Rams. However, he became a replacement player during the 1987 NFL players' strike, and played two games for the Rams.[4] Later, he found work as a concert promoter and a bodyguard for celebrities including Bobby Brown.
Knight was arrested in October 1987 for domestic violence—he assaulted his girlfriend and cut off her ponytail on the street. On Halloween Night 1987, Knight was arrested in Las Vegas for auto theft, carrying a concealed weapon and attempted murder. He had allegedly shot a man three times while stealing his car. He pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge, and received two years probation.[2]
Two years later, Knight formed his own music-publishing company. His first big profit in the business came when Vanilla Ice (Robert Van Winkle) agreed to sign over royalties from Van Winkle's smash hit "Ice Ice Baby", because the song included material written by Knight's client Mario Johnson. Knight and his bodyguards confronted Van Winkle several times. On one occasion, Knight entered Van Winkle's hotel room, and allegedly dangled him by his ankles off the balcony. Van Winkle said only that Knight threatened to throw him off the balcony; the claim was resolved in court.[2]
Knight next formed an artist management company and signed prominent West Coast hip hop artists DJ Quik and The D.O.C. Through the former, he met several members of the seminal gangsta rap group N.W.A.
Currently unmarried, Knight has six children—Taj 21, Arion 19, Jacob 17, Sosa 10, and Bailia 8.

Death Row Records

Dr. Dre and The D.O.C. wanted to leave both N.W.A. and their label, Ruthless Records, run by Eazy-E, another member of N.W.A. According to N.W.A's manager Jerry Heller, Knight and his henchmen [5] Ultimately, Dre and DOC co-founded Death Row Records in 1991 with Knight, who vowed to make it "the Motown of the '90s".



threatened Heller and Eazy-E with lead pipes and baseball bats to make them release Dre, The D.O.C., and Michel'le from their contracts.
Initially, Knight fulfilled his ambitions: he secured a distribution deal with Interscope, and Dre's 1992 solo debut, The Chronic, has sold over three million copies.[6] It also made a career for Dre's protégé, Snoop Dogg, whose debut album Doggystyle was another multi-platinum album.[7]
Meanwhile, Death Row had begun a public feud with 2 Live Crew's Luther Campbell, and when Knight traveled to Miami for a hip-hop convention in 1993, he was apparently seen openly carrying a stolen gun. The following year, he opened a private, by-appointment-only nightclub in Las Vegas called Club 662, so named because the numbers spelled out MOB, which stands for Money over Bitches, on telephone keypads. In 1995, he ran afoul of activist C. Delores Tucker, whose criticism of Death Row's glamorization of the "gangsta" lifestyle may have helped scuttle a lucrative deal with Time Warner.

Tupac Shakur, MC Hammer, Dr. Dre, and the Death Row Label

Knight's feud with East Coast impresario Sean Combs (known as Puff Daddy at the time) progressed when Knight insulted the Bad Boy label founder on air at the Source Awards in August 1995. Openly critical of Combs's tendency of ad-libbing on his artists' songs and dancing in their videos, Knight announced to the audience, "Anyone out there who wanna be a recording artist and wanna stay a star, but don't have to worry about the executive producer trying to be all in the videos, all on the records, dancing, come to Death Row."
The same year, Knight offered to post a bail ($1.4 million) for Tupac Shakur if the troubled rapper agreed to sign with Death Row. Shakur agreed, setting the stage for his 1996 double album All Eyez on Me and the songs "California Love" and "How Do U Want It".
MC Hammer's (Stanley Kirk Burrell) relationship with Suge Knight dates back to 1988. With the success of Hammer's 1994 album, The Funky Headhunter (featuring Tha Dogg Pound), Hammer signed with Death Row Records by 1995, along with Snoop Dogg and his close friend, Tupac.[8] The label did not release the album of Hammer's music (titled Too Tight) while he had a career with them, although he did release versions of some tracks on his next album.[9][10] However, Hammer did record tracks with Shakur and others, most notably the song "Too Late Playa" (along with Big Daddy Kane and Danny Boy).[11][12] After the death of Shakur in 1996, Burrell left the record company.[13] He later explained his concern about this circumstance in an interview on Trinity Broadcasting Network since he was in Las Vegas with Tupac the night of his death.[14] Hammer released 2Pac's "Unconditional Love", on his Family Affair album, in 1998. The friendships between Hammer (played by Romany Malco), Tupac (played by Lamont Bentley) and Suge (played by Anthony Norris) were depicted in the television film, Too Legit: The MC Hammer Story (airing on VH1 in 2001).
The label suffered a major blow when Dr. Dre, frustrated with the company's increasingly thuggish reputation and Knight's violent inclinations, decided to leave and form his own label. A stream of Dre-dissing records followed,

The Murder of Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls: Theories Implicating Knight

Tupac Shakur was murdered on September 7, 1996, in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas and died six days later. When Shakur's East Coast rival, The Notorious B.I.G. (aka Biggie Smalls), was murdered in a similar fashion in March 1997, speculation arose that Knight was involved and that B.I.G.'s death was a revenge killing.[15] Former Death Row artists like Snoop Dogg would later state that Suge was involved in Tupac's murder as well.[16]
A popular view implicating Suge Knight in the deaths of both Biggie and Tupac was that of ex-detective Russell Poole, whose theory inspired writer Randall Sullivan and filmmaker Nick Broomfield. The conjecture was that Knight had Tupac killed before he could part ways with Knight's Death Row label and then conspired to kill Biggie to divert attention from himself in the Tupac murder. [17] The convoluted Biggie murder theory implicated Suge Knight, a rogue cop, a mortgage broker named Amir Muhammad (whom was never a police suspect) along with the chief of police and the LAPD in a conspiracy to murder and cover up the murder of Biggie. The Biggie theory formed the basis of a 500 million dollar lawsuit by the Wallace family against Los Angeles. A key source for Poole's theory was Kevin Hackie. Hackie had implicated Suge Knight and David Mack. Hackie, a former Death Row associate, said that he had knowledge of involvement between Suge Knight and David Mack and other alleged crooked cops. His information was used by the Wallace family in their suit against the city of LA for Biggie's death. But Hackie later told Chuck Philips that the Wallace attorneys had altered his declarations. [18] The 500 million dollar suit of the Wallace family against the city of LA based on the Russell Poole theory was dismissed in 2010.
A 2005 story by Philips, showing that another main source for the Poole/Sullivan theory of Biggie's murder implicating Amir Muhammed, David Mack, Suge Knight and the L.A.P.D. was a schizophrenic known as "Psycho Mike" who later confessed to hearsay and memory lapses and falsely identifying Amir Muhammed, a central figure in the Poole-Sullivan theory.[19] John Cook of Brill's Content noted that Philips' article "demolished" [20] the Poole-Sullvan theory of Biggie's murder.
At about the same time as the Sullivan-Poole theory of Tupac's murder (also implicating Knight) came out in 2002, Los Angeles Times Pulitzer-prize winning investigator Chuck Philips wrote a two-part series called “Who Killed Tupac Shakur?” The series resulted from of a year-long investigation reconstructing the murder of Tupac Shakur and the events leading up to it. It was based on police affidavits and court documents as well as interviews with investigators, witnesses to the crime and members of the Southside Crips who had never before discussed the killing outside the gang.[21][22]
Evidence gathered by Philips indicated that “the shooting was carried out by a Compton gang called the Southside Crips to avenge the beating of one of its members by Shakur a few hours earlier. Orlando Anderson, the Crip whom Shakur had attacked, fired the fatal shots. Las Vegas police discounted Anderson as a suspect and interviewed him only once, briefly. He was later killed in an unrelated gang shooting”.[21] The article implicated East Coast music figures, including Christopher "Biggie Smalls" Wallace, Shakur's nemesis at the time, alleging that he paid for the gun.[21] Before their own deaths, Smalls and his family and Anderson denied any role in Shakur's murder. Biggie's family[23] produced documents purporting to show that the rapper was in New York and New Jersey at the time. The New York Times called the documents inconclusive stating:

Mark Duvoisin, Assistant Manager of the LA Times wrote that Chuck Philips account had withstood all attacks to its credibility including Sullivan's and remained "the definitive account of the Shakur slaying" [25]
In Tupac Shakur: Before I Wake, a documentary by Tupac Shakur's bodyguard, he and writer Cathy Scott said that Knight would not have placed himself in the path of bullets he knew were coming, in line with L.A.P.D. police documents reviewed in Philips LA Times 2002 series. On her website Archived Letters Scott responds to a reader of her book stating that she felt there was never evidence to link Knight to Tupac's murder.
A 2006 an investigation of "Biggie Smalls" murder, headed by LAPD detective Greg Kading, led back to the murder of Tupac and corroborated Chuck Philips findings. In his 2011 book, Murder Rap,[26] LAPD Detective Kading reported speaking to Duane "Keefe D" Davis, a member of the "Crips" street gang, who confessed to riding in the car involved in the Las Vegas drive-by shooting of Tupac Shakur.[15][27] As Chuck Philips noted in his earlier LA Times exposé, the Crips had been offered a million dollars by Sean Puffy Combs and Bad Boy records for the killing of Tupac. Kading also added that a bounty was additionally offered for Suge Knight murder,[15] an allegation that Philips has never commented about.
According to Kading's book which corroborated Philips earlier account of Tupac's murder, while in Las Vegas he and a group of fellow Crips accidentally crossed paths with a limousine carrying both Knight and Shakur.[21] The fatal shots were fired by Orlando "Baby Lane" Anderson because he was on the side of the car closest to limousine.
However, in contrast to Chuck Philips, who has never identified the shooter of Biggie, Kadings reports that Suge Knight hired Wardel "Pouchie" Fouse to hit Puffy Combs' most valuable star, Biggie Smalls, a hit accomplished following a party at the Peterson Automotive Museum. Pouchie later survived one assassination attempt but died in a drive by shooting a year following the first attack. Despite the task force's findings, charges were never brought and the task force wound down and disbanded for reasons of "internal affairs."[26]
After the death of Tupac Shakur and the release of Tha Doggfather, Snoop Dogg openly blasted Suge Knight for the murder of Shakur and decided to leave the label, which he did in 1997, moving to Master P's No Limit Records and then forming his own record label, Doggystyle Records. In 2002, Snoop released the song "Pimp Slapp'd", in which he repudiated Suge and Death Row. In 2006, Snoop again attacked Knight verbally, charging him for the death of Tupac Shakur. Suge responded, stating that Snoop is a "police informer" as he "never goes to jail".[citation needed]

End of Death Row Records

On April 4, 2006, Suge Knight filed bankruptcy due to civil litigation against him in which Lydia Harris claimed to have been cheated out of a 50% stake in Death Row Records. Prior to filing, Knight had been ordered to pay $107 million to Harris.[28] Under questioning by creditors, he denied having money tucked away in foreign countries or in an African company that deals in diamonds and gold. Bankruptcy documents filed showed Knight had no income this year from employment or operation of a business. According to financial records, his bank account contained just $12, and he owned clothing worth $1,000, furniture and appliances valued at $2,000, and jewelry worth $25,000. He also testified that the last time he had checked the label’s financial records was at least 10 years prior. Knight’s lawyer said that his client was still “at the helm” of Death Row and had been working on securing distribution deals for the label’s catalog. Harris told reporters she had received a $1 million payment but had not agreed to settle the matter. "I'm telling you, I didn't do a settlement for $1 million. That's ridiculous. Let's keep it real," she said.[29]
Knight skipped a meeting with his creditors after injuring himself in a motorcycle accident. Another scheduled meeting with the creditors had been missed after Suge said he had experienced a death in his family. Finally on July 7, 2006, the federal judge, Ellen Carroll, ordered a bankruptcy trustee takeover of Suge Knight's Death Row Records, saying the record label had undergone a gross amount of mismanagement.
He filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, which allows a company to continue business operations while restructuring. Death Row was being operated by Neilson during the bankruptcy proceedings, while Knight oversaw his bankruptcy estate as a debtor in possession.
In June 2007, he placed his seven-bedroom, 9½-bath home in Malibu on the market for $6.2 million as part of his "financial makeover". The mansion was finally sold in December 2008 in bankruptcy court for $4.56 million.[30]
In June 2008, he sold Death Row Records to New York-based company Global Music Group, which confirmed it had purchased the firm in a statement to the Associated Press news agency.[31][32]
On January 25, 2009, an auction was held for everything found in the Death Row Records office after the company filed for bankruptcy, including some of Knight's personal items. Of note was the Death Row Records electric chair which sold for $2,500. Some of Knight's personal items appeared in an auction during the debut episode of A&E's Storage Wars, and a vault full of items (including a coat) was purchased by featured buyer Barry Weiss.[33]

Personal and legal troubles

In 1996, Knight was sent to prison for a probation violation. In February 1997, he was sentenced to nine years for the violation. He was released on August 6, 2001.[34]
In 2003, he was sent to prison again for violating parole when he struck a parking lot attendant.[35] Death Row Records' income rapidly declined due to Knight's incarceration. It managed to save itself from complete bankruptcy by releasing archived Snoop Dogg compilation albums and posthumous Tupac albums. Despite signing new artists, Suge never released any of their albums.
In 2006 Knight was engaged in another dispute with former friend and ex-associate Snoop Dogg after Snoop insulted him in Rolling Stone.
On May 10, 2008, Knight was involved in an altercation involving a monetary dispute outside of a nightclub in Hollywood. He was knocked out for 3 minutes, taken to the hospital, and reportedly did not cooperate with the LAPD.
On August 27, 2008, Knight was arrested on drug and ecstasy and hydrocodone. As of October 31, police and prosecutors had still failed to contact Isaac, and no formal charges have been brought against Knight.[36] On December 5, 2008, Suge Knight was cleared of all charges. Knight’s attorney, David Chesnoff, said the prosecution had "discovery problems and witness problems". Prosecutor Susan Benedict did not immediately return a call for comment. When Knight was asked about the positive verdict he replied "God is good, Happy Holidays".
aggravated assault charges after leaving a Las Vegas strip club. When police arrived on the scene, Knight was beating his girlfriend of three years and brandishing a knife. Reports also allege that he was under the influence of both
As part of an October 30, 2008 bankruptcy claim, Suge also filed a lawsuit against Kanye West and his associates. The lawsuit concerns an August 2005 shooting at Kanye's pre-Video Music Awards party, where Knight suffered a gunshot wound to the upper leg.[37][38] The lawsuit cites damages of mental and physical pain caused by the shooting, costs of surgery, loss of income and the theft of a 15-carat (3.0 g) $147,000 diamond earring.
In late March, 2009, Knight was implicated in the robbery of Akon producer, Noel "Detail" Fisher. According to Christopher Walker, an employee of Detail, on the morning of March 25, 2009, five armed men broke into Detail's house, stating that they were collecting a debt on behalf of Knight. $170,000 worth of jewelry was stolen, along with a locked safe, stereo equipment and the key to a Mercedes vehicle. Walker claims the incident is related to the altercation at the W Scottsdale Hotel in February.
Storage Wars
Knight started a new record label called Blackball Records, with its first artist Young Life and featured it in a reality show, Unfinished Business. The show was based on Knight dispelling long-standing rumors in sit down interviews, his days with Death Row and the artists he worked with, and finding new talent for his record label. As of April 2009, the show had not been picked up by any major network.
Remaining items from Knight's personal property were auctioned in the first episode of Storage Wars on , which aired on December 1, 2010.
A&E
On February 8, 2012, Suge Knight was arrested in Las Vegas, after police found marijuana in his car and several warrants for prior traffic violations. Suge is currently on three years unsupervised probation for driving with a suspended license.









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