NBA veteran reveals Pat Riley’s first ‘tone-setting’ strategy to destroy Michael Jordan’s influence

When you play against Michael Jordan, you can always have a little extra motivation. Pat Riley was good at this, according to one of his players, Mark Jackson. Riley was playing for the New York Knicks, who were involved in an infamous rivalry with the Jordan-led Chicago Bulls. In 1992, this competition reached its peak. So the coach had to use all his cards to motivate his team.Jackson reveals to son Blue mark jackson show Two examples of Riley’s unique strategy working and failing.

In 1992, the Knicks had Jordan’s close friend Patrick Ewing and former Bulls player Charles Oakley. Apparently, people thought these two would go soft on Jordan. “"They have connections to him," jackson told his son “So sometimes they were seen as a little soft on Jordan.”

Jackson said not only was that perception wrong, but Riley instead turned them into a key figure they could use against the Bulls legend. “Pat Riley actually talked to those two guys and set the tone for the enforcers, and we did that. “We delivered and we won.”

He was actually referring to Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. The series was tied at 3-3, with the Knicks winning 100-86.Jackson credits Riley’s coaching tactics as a factor in their opposition his magnanimity.

Jackson described Riley as an excellent motivational speaker. But Riley apparently also showed the team images of how Jordan had embarrassed them in previous games to motivate them.

But sometimes his strategy doesn’t work. Unfortunately, Jackson found this out in the same series.

Pat Riley’s strategy goes too far

With the Knicks tying the series, Game 7 was a winner-take-all affair. Riley put so much into this game,”Does not meet the standard,“According to Jackson. He described the atmosphere in the locker room and the coach gave a long speech. Jackson said they didn’t need lengthy speeches that would drain their energy.

Historically, the defending NBA champions have defeated the Knicks 110-81. Jordan scored 42 points in New York and Scottie Pippen set a triple-double record. The Bulls defeated Cleveland in the next round and won their second consecutive title in the Finals.

Would things have been different if the Knicks hadn’t been numbed by Pat Riley’s speech? What would history have looked like if the Knicks had won that series? Let us know in the comments.