After a successful near-decade-long stint with the Los Angeles Lakers, Pat Riley was acquired by the New York Knicks as the head coach. During 1991-1995, Riley was fortunate enough to lead a team with several superstars. John Starks was one such player, who explained how “The Godfather” of the NBA managed to have the respect of his players in the locker room.
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The Knicks franchise hosted a few former players for their third episode of the podcast titled “Garden Party”. At one point in the 65-minute must-see episode, Latrell Sprewell and Starks discussed the Pat Riley era in brief.
Even though Riley didn’t win a championship during his stint with the Knicks, Starks detailed why every player enjoyed playing for the former. Riley had a calm and collected personality and would not criticize his players. According to the former Knick, Riley being a former player was the best advantage for him, knowing how to handle the team.
“He’s pretty much consistent. I think that’s what made him a great coach. Either win or lose, he’s pretty much consistent… Mr. Smooth. He was all about your psyche – he knew he couldn’t come in there and berate us and talk down to us or anything like that. He’s a former player so he understands that you’re going to go through wins and losses, ups and downs during the season,” Starks said.
Having spent nearly two decades as a player, Riley could read the locker room, recognizing the kind of treatment the players needed, and thus increase morale by instilling confidence.
“His job is to try to keep you up here… build up your confidence every single game and that’s his job as a coach. He had the heartbeat of the team, him pushing us,” Starks concluded.
Out of the three teams that he coached across a distinguished career, Riley spent the least time on the New York side. However, during these four seasons, the organization advanced to the 2nd round of the playoffs twice, the conference finals once, and the NBA Finals once.
Riley had a reputation for being a “players’ coach”
Starks isn’t the only individual to laud Riley for his virtue of respecting the players on his squad. Udonis Haslem, who spent his entire career with Riley, has often praised the latter too.
Haslem revealed how Riley had a huge impact on him, especially helping the former to not get in trouble with the officials. The Miami Heat coach went out of his way to compile a sheet with the names of all the referees for Haslem to memorize so that the forward wouldn’t get in any trouble over a soft call.
“Riles calls me in his office, I sat down, he slid this piece of paper to me. I looked at the piece of paper…I said, ‘What the f**k is this?’ He said, it’s the names of all the refs…I want you to address them by their names. He said this is gonna start the process from them f***ing with you,” UD said on a podcast.
Such extra steps that Riley took to help his players improve were one of the biggest reasons why he was so admired. As a result, Riley is one of the most decorated coaches of all time with 1,210 regular season wins, five NBA championships, and three Coach of the Year accolades.
