Michael Jordan was so influential during his peak that he was able to kick out Pat Riley, who is referred to as the Godfather, from his presidential suite.
The director of the sports documentary miniseries “The Last Dance,” Jason Hehir, recounted an epic story told by Pat Riley about Michael Jordan’s power and influence during his prime.
The Last Dance director recalls a story about Michael Jordan
“Riley is staying in the presidential suite of this gorgeous resort in Hawaii. And the manager calls him up and said ‘Mr. Riley, you have to clear your things out of the presidential suite. We have an unexpected guest, and we have to move you out,'” Hehir said.
According to Hehir, the hotel management offered Riley complimentary rooms and promised to transfer his belongings to his new suite. Riley accepted the offer and went to the hotel pool while the room was being prepared.
“[Riley] goes down to the pool. The staff comes up and moves all of his stuff out, and he’s hanging out down at the pool, and he looks up at the balcony, and Michael’s on the balcony, his balcony, waving to him from his original room,” he added.
A Michael Jordan story courtesy of Pat Riley left on the cutting room floor @jasonmhehir. Listen to the entire episode of @pushinthrupod here: https://t.co/kyJf6Ff9ev #TheLastDance pic.twitter.com/w1mqB0w5QH
— Figures (@figuresnetwork) May 21, 2020
Hehir mentioned that Pat Riley was among the many people interviewed for “The Last Dance” sports documentary. He added that they had so many interesting stories that they couldn’t include everything Riley shared. Despite that, Hehir thought it was great to share the Jordan story with fans.
It’s possible that Jordan’s actions were motivated by his tendency to take things personally, but Hehir suggested that Jordan may have been trying to humiliate Riley further. This incident occurred in 1993, after the Chicago Bulls defeated Riley’s New York Knicks in six games in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Bulls went on to win the NBA Championship. Jordan may have been asserting his dominance and reminding Riley that he was in control and could act however he pleased.