When two former UCLA basketball players committed suicide, they left behind more questions
LOS ANGELES - Billy Knight seemed quieter than usual the last time he spoke with his younger brother Eric. They discussed the NBA's summer league and players they thought might emerge as budding stars.
It was an attempt to lighten the mood and steer clear of the grim reality facing Billy, a former UCLA basketball player accused of repeatedly molesting a minor.
Billy proclaimed his innocence during the early July phone call and said he was hoping a preacher could help him sort through his troubles.
Before he hung up, Billy made a promise that comforted his brother: He would not hurt himself.
"I never imagined him wanting to actually go through with what he did," Eric said.
A day later, Billy was dead at age 39. Firefighters found him on a roadway near downtown Phoenix after he jumped from a building. He took his own life, leaving a goodbye video in which he acknowledged living "a life of sin."
Knight's suicide came only one day after another tragedy rocked the UCLA basketball community.
Tyler Honeycutt, another former Bruin who recently returned from playing in Russia, seemed troubled when he spoke with his former high school coach, Bort Escoto. Honeycutt thanked Escoto for all he had done since their days together at Sylmar High. But other things Honeycutt said left Escoto unsettled.
