NBA Pat Riley Returns To MSG As Miami Head Coach Pregame 1995

December 19, 1995. From MSG Network.

[@holzman00]

At least Riley took the booing like a G. Best coach the Knicks ever had barring Red Holzman.

[@mrwassef]

He walked out there like a WWE wrestler hahah.

[@whataboutrob442]

Van Gundy owned his bitch ass!

[@dfk09]

This is great stuff! I remember those days. The Knicks really had his number winning 3 out of 4 series. Then again, the Heat Organization has won 3 titles with him as coach/president. Also, the Heat is still a relevant franchise under him. He may have lost the battles, but he won in the long run...

[@broadstreet21]

Couldn't have said it better. Fans should have blamed James Dolan.

[@thespaceram2879]

Nba commissioner and knix fan Stern and his ref knick lavetta rigged it for your knix to win that 1999 playoff series. Cheaters never win. Look at how it worked for your knix knats since.

[@Its_Shaq]

@@broadstreet21 we do

[@charismatic9904]

1 million and 1 draft pick. (Penalty) For 5 finals and 3 nba titles. Plus many division titles and being one of the premier teams for 25 years....great investment by the Heat. I am a heat fan since 1988. In hindsight Im sure every knick fan wishes they had given riley full control.

[@javiers.3433]

Yes, your are correct. Even ass this was happening I knew it was a bad idea !! Riley provided a vision and standard with the effort to back it up and make it happen. It would have been Riley and van Gundy all this time.

[@whataboutrob442]

​@@javiers.3433Van Gundy was the better coach. Screw Patty Riley.

[@carsonkuresa4398]

I AM A PAT RILEY FAN FOREVER.

[@Zalzaz]

"The Decision" Pat Riley Edtion

[@ctdiamond83]

😂😅

[@HarrisonHollers]

He didn’t raise money for Boys & Girls though. Only whores of South Beach

[@radarrob1443]

Pivotal moment in Knick history. Clearly they should have given Riley what he wanted, control of the club. Instead, Knicks decide to stay with Checketts and Knicks remain ringless while Riley builds sustained winner in Miami (even to this day) and wins 3 championships.

[@whataboutrob442]

I disagree with you. No one should have the right to demand for ownership of something that isn't theirs. Van Gundy was the better coach anyways. Who did Riley really beat when with the Knicks? In 92 a depleted Pistons team in 5. In 93 they beat the 8th seed Pacers, and the recent expansion team Hornets and lost 4-2 to the Bulls. It took them 18 games to get to the finals, without Jordon. And they could have easily lost to the Bulls or the Pacers. The next season Riley lost in the second round to the Pacers. Nah, no way was he all that. And Van Gundy was the better coach.

[@MrJAKE74]

Pure gold. The goat 🐐 how do we let the greatest thing that ever happened to us just walk out the front door so easily

[@broadstreet21]

Lousy ownership, couldn't recognize who they had until it is gone.

[@tonystewart4113]

That’s also beyond me…

[@ThePhenomm]

I believe in Riley’s style back then in his philosophy but we didn’t win a title with him but as a fan I took great pleasure in beating the Heat 3 out of 4 years in the playoffs. Still love Riley though the biggest disappointment is not giving him the keys to MSG in hindsight.

[@timhoward5]

Riley: 3 more rings Knicks: 0 ring It was a pleasure seeing the Knicks becoming a laughing stock of the NBA, while the Heat always being a championship contender since Riley joined the Heat 🙂.

[@pktchino]

@@timhoward5 the knicks still won the rivalry clown stay butthurt 😂

[@timhoward5]

@@pktchino Speaking of yourself yea. HEAT: 💍💍💍 KNICKS: 💩

[@thespaceram2879]

These cocky Knix Knats never learn.

[@thespaceram2879]

Nba commissioner and knix fan Stern and his ref knick lavetta rigged it for your knix to win that 1999 playoff series. Cheaters never win. Look at how it worked for your knix knats since.

[@ZJBorg]

Riley saw the future. It’s name was James Dolan 😂

[@Lilbit2215]

That's my Godfather right there

[@tricoastalelite]

it's funny to me how the fans and Mase are saying how much they don't need him bc of Don Nelson- but nelson gets fired before the end of this season

[@lusterthomas4189]

I love it now and I loved it back then don't shy away from it just embrace it....

[@apap1586]

This is a night I never forgot after all these years ;The night Riley came back. I have never seen him sweat like that before. I hated to see him go.

[@devangpatel5227]

damn that was gangsta!!!

[@neoellinas]

The start of the rivalry.

[@miguelvera7021]

Pat Riley..the OG

[@Joseph-lz5er]

Winning is contagious and it starts from the top. So a great move by the Heat and a bad one for the Knicks.

[@tonystewart4113]

When you don’t have the backing of upper management, after they know on what you can accomplish and it still falls upon deaf ears, then you know what, you can’t blame Pat Riley for leaving. Weasel Grundgfeld had no guts to take a chance. My Knicks were never the same afterwards.

[@apap1586]

The Knicks would regret the decision. Dave checkett was an outstanding basketball president... But he should have trusted Pat Riley's basketball mind. And gave him control of the roster.

[@whataboutrob442]

Regret beating the Heat 4 of 5 times in the playoffs and a trip to the finals. Eventually Riley got the chip, but he's a bitch.

[@Rickvaughnn]

That was the most gangster thing that’s ever happened to an nba coach

[@recklessralphfromqueens8383]

Riley was the Don... hated the departure.

[@elyocampo5169]

pat riley's version of "In this fall,i'll take my talents to south beach and,join the miami heat"

[@unappealingundesirable2826]

I was born in Seattle in 1973, where I grew up. Sonics and Blazers fan. Japanese-American. Dave Checketts is The Frenchman!!

[@freakyfornash]

Riley leaving was truly the beginning the of the Knicks long, hard downfall. Can't blame him for wanting more money & control, which he was never going to get with the Knicks structure. That being even if the way he resigned was not right, and totally gutless, which Knicks fans hated him more for though. Interesting that Van Gundy never got nearly the flack for quitting when he realized the team was on the verge of becoming a sinking ship, which was when the franchise really cratered from that point on as well.

[@toddsands6000]

I liked how JVG stepped down from the Knicks as head coach once the Knicks record was one game over .500 at the beginning of the 2001-02 season - I think. And then like you said, the Knicks totally cratered. Pat Riley's return to the garden became an instant MSG classic when he stepped on that court as the Miami Heat coach. The reigning boos could be felt through the TV. Knicks' fans were pissed!

[@freakyfornash]

@@toddsands6000 Many fans were far more forgiven, and understanding when he did so. He also got standing ovations whenever he came back, unlike Riley too! (L.O.L.!)

[@timhoward5]

Yup! Lol. The Knicks NEVER recovered since except a lucky playoff run in 99' (the half season).

[@timhoward5]

@@freakyfornash What does it matter to Riley when he added 3 more rings and JVG...well none lol? The Knicks sucks and will continue to be the laughing stock of the NBA lol.

[@freakyfornash]

@@timhoward5 Well maybe Pat Riley still gets those rings, and then some, had if he stayed with the Knicks? Keep in mind this was just before Cablevision, and the Dolans were about to own the team, who they eventually ran into the ground as time went on. That and when the most prominent players actually WANTED to play in New York, back when it was a highly desirable destination, unlike now too! The Heat were also totally irrelevant until Riley eventually made that franchise into a flagship one for that matter also.

[@recklessralphfromqueens8383]

I heard that the “power dispute “ was in regards to moving Oakley in off-season. Checkers wasn’t with it, neither higher brass and Pat was like “F-it”.

[@youtuber3328]

i don't know how 2 spell his last name but mike wal was almost always the pa announcer at the knicks home games not quite everytime but why

[@youtuber3328]

the playoffs count the most + the heat lost in round 1 while the knicks lost in round 2 in 96

[@thespaceram2879]

Nba commissioner and knix fan Stern and his ref knick lavetta rigged it for your knix to win that 1999 playoff series. Cheaters never win. Look at how it worked for your knix knats since.

[@youtuber3328]

I'm speaking in general sometimes 4 necessary reasons that vary u have to mentally hurt others to better yourself period no questions asked at all not even one in one place on one occasion for even one split second

[@Nightwing22k]

i cringed when that kid called Pat a loser! SMH!

[@timhoward5]

😂 Dude meant Knicks

[@thespaceram2879]

@@timhoward5 Knix Knats

[@mrwassef]

13:29 Is that Spo smiling his head off at the scorers table in the white sweater? Haha

[@timhoward5]

No!

[@mrwassef]

@@timhoward5 I’m like 85% sure it is

[@timhoward5]

@@mrwassef It looks like him. Spo scouted for the Heat during that time.

[@youtuber3328]

my all-time favorite male athletes/jocks ever are + were #1 tied wilt chamberlain + bill russell #2 kareem abdul-jabbar + #3 hakeem olajuwon

[@Cutekitty12417]

Media like mike and the mad dog made it worse for Riley. He was no snake, the knicks office drove him out

[@coreyortiz9913]

shout out to all the New Yorkers who stuck by Riley after he departed NYC

[@javiers.3433]

Yes, your are correct. Even ass this was happening I knew it was a bad idea !! Riley provided a vision and standard with the effort to back it up and make it happen. It would have been Riley and van Gundy all this time. This was another bad short term Decision by the Knicks. Pitino Ewing Isaiah Jackson To name a few.

[@TL2354]

Isiah. You can at least get his name right

[@kareemmoreland9119]

Checketts wouldn't let Riley "buy the groceries" Micky Arison would.

[@crawford371]

I forgot Don Nelson coached the Knicks

[@matthewelmore6567]

He and the Knicks…did not get along just fine at the end of the day lol

[@timhoward5]

I didn't even know he did lol but they said they were happy with Nelly 😂🤣😂.

[@OhNo_4mor4freaknbiden]

Nelly would’ve been like …. boy Riley was right about this management they have😂

[@unappealingundesirable2826]

5:10 "He eat all our things, to say the least. He laughed to see the onna fide. Ha Ha!!"

[@fabiancastaneda3878]

Blood in the Garden brought me here

[@robertomoscoso8942]

Little did we know Riley’s departure was the beginning of the decline of the Knicks. The 1999 Finals were just a distraction for what was about to come a few years later.

[@thespaceram2879]

Nba commissioner and knix fan Stern and his ref knick lavetta rigged it for your knix to win that 1999 playoff series against the Heat. Cheaters never win. Look at how it worked for your knix knats since.

[@vikramkrishnan6414]

And since then Knicks have won "diddly" and "squat"

[@youtuber3328]

the best players ever literally always have and will be #1 tied wilt chamberlain and bill russell #2 oscar robertson #3 kareem abdul-jabbar #4 michael jordan #5 magic johnson #6 larry bird #7 jerry west and #8 hakeem olajuwon

[@lusterthomas4189]

Wilt,two titles playing against 5 ft nothing guys I'll take Shaq or akeem any day.

[@youtuber3328]

@@lusterthomas4189 in the 1950's and 1960's having 9-12 teams meant average role players like robert horry wouldn't go pro when the nba was led by wilt chamberlain and bill russell

[@Jonathan-vt3tk]

"Locked"locker room lol

[@youtuber3328]

riley didn't leave by screaming + yelling so 2 speak

[@PakRT48]

So how many titles have the Knicks won compared to the Heat since Riley left? Knicks should've given Riley what he wanted. But I didn't quite like Riley's reaction to the rain of boos. I wish he just played it cool.

[@charismatic9904]

I loved it. Totally a Miami thing to do.

[@user-yo5ul9hu4t]

they should have let him run the organization

[@bryanjoecruz47]

The most unfriendly and hostile welcome to a former ally. Pat Riley in 1995, Lebron James in 2010 and Kevin Durant in 2016.

[@zkid001]

John Tavares 2019

[@killiemelo]

Vince Carter return to Toronto

[@liamhollingworth9039]

the lying fake news were just as bad back then... .pat riley -godfather gangsta.don.pimp.....all class. greatest gm/coach in nba history

[@juliansmith4352]

If Michael Jordan was traded by the Chicago bulls man the United Center would be sold out of tickets

[@threerings1345]

I don't know why Riley had to go all WWE like that. He really is a rat right down to his core and not just because of this small incident. Much worse was lying to then firing his best friend and Heat coach Stan Van Gundy in '05 so Riley could win the title Stan had earned.

[@youtuber3328]

the knicks from 92-95 lost in rounds 2 3 4 + 2

[@jermaneraynor]

Knicks been crap since!

[@timhoward5]

Right lol! And Miami been title contenders ever since lol.

[@thespaceram2879]

Knix Knats crapola.

[@whataboutrob442]

For those that think Riley was a better coach in New York than Van Gundy, you are all whack. How many times did Van Gundy take it to the Heat. Everytime except for the ejection year. 4 out of 5 times.

[@youtuber3328]

the heat from 1996 through 2000 lost in rounds 1 3 1 1 and 2

[@timhoward5]

After 96': Heat: 3 Rings and 6 Conference Champions Knicks: 1 Conference Champions Riley and the Heat won at the end.

[@youtuber3328]

@@timhoward5 yeah but they didn't face legends like hakeem olajuwon jerry west larry bird magic johnson michael jordan kareem abdul-jabbar oscar robertson wilt chamberlain and bill russell

[@timhoward5]

@@youtuber3328 Yes they did. 3 > 0

[@youtuber3328]

@@timhoward5 but they didn't face those legends i mentioned

[@timhoward5]

@@youtuber3328 They faced Hakeem and Jordan. 3 > 0

[@youtuber3328]

the best head coaches in basketball history literally always have + will be #1 red aurbach #2 phil jackson + #3 john wooden

[@timhoward5]

You're smoking. 1 Red. 2. Riley 3. Everybody else.