Riley Says He’s Ready for Pfund

Pat Riley says he no longer feels odd when his New York Knicks play the Lakers, that in the three years since he left with his four championship rings, “all those feelings have long subsided.”

But the Knick coach’s regard for his former assistant and protege, Randy Pfund, hasn’t faded a bit. Riley has even devised a new strategy to unsettle Pfund tonight, the first time Riley will face a Pfund-coached Laker team.

“I’ll probably have to phone him (today), wake him up from his pregame nap,” Riley said, chuckling. “I know he never gets to sleep before 2 a.m. and likes to take naps, so I might just have to disrupt him.”

Riley has stayed in frequent contact with Pfund, whom he hired before the 1985-86 season.

During his tenure in Los Angeles, Riley treated Pfund as a son, often inviting him home to dinner. He also tried to lure Pfund to New York in the summer of 1991 by offering him a salary that would have made Pfund one of the NBA’s highest-paid assistant coaches. The Lakers made a counteroffer, and after serving as an assistant to Mike Dunleavy for a season, Pfund became coach last May.

“Randy’s one of my very closest friends,” Riley said. “He’s somebody I really admire and respect. That will never change. He was one of the hardest-working assistant coaches I’ve ever been around. He’s very detail-oriented and organized and he brings that to practices. . . .

“He had a great rapport with those guys, and I know the players respect him. He’s really done a great job with the transition and changes that team has gone through this season.”

Pfund welcomes the chance to see his mentor.

“That will be special, to get a chance to coach against Pat,” he said. “I just hope it will be an exciting game. It always seems to be a big game when we go to New York.”