Former UCLA basketball player Billy Knight was found dead on a Phoenix roadway early Sunday, the second death of an ex-Bruin this week. Knight was 39.
Knight's body was found at 2:45 a.m. Sunday, and he was pronounced dead shortly thereafter by the Phoenix Fire Department.
The Maricopa County Medical Examiner's office ruled Knight's death a suicide by "multiple blunt force injuries."
The UCLA men's basketball program confirmed his death in a Twitter post.
Our hearts are heavy after learning Billy Knight has passed away. We ask that the Bruin family keep Billy's loved ones in their thoughts during this difficult time. pic.twitter.com/9WssEUnvbY
— UCLA Basketball (@UCLAMBB) July 10, 2018
Knight's death came just days after 27-year-old Tyler Honeycutt fatally shot himself during a standoff with police on Friday.
Knight published a cryptic, six-minute video, titled "I am Sorry Lord," just hours before he was found dead.
"I just feel like I don't belong here on Earth," Knight said in the video, his voice breaking. "So my time is up."
A Los Angeles native, Knight played for the Bruins from 1997 to 2002, averaging eight points and two rebounds per game. He averaged 14.1 points in his final season at UCLA, second on the team, behind former NBA player Jason Kapono (16.0), and just ahead of ex-NBAer Matt Barnes (13.5). Knight started all 33 games in the 2001-02 campaign, but he never broke into the NBA, bouncing around the D-League and France and Japan after his college career.
On Instagram, former Phoenix Suns head coach and UCLA teammate Earl Watson posted a short video clip of him and Knight laughing in a car. In the accompanying caption, Watson wrote, "The world didn't understand your literal rhetoric, and some took advantage of that. ... I love you more than words can ever define! Forever my brother!"