The Los Angeles Lakers and their golden period of the 80s is unforgettable. Other teams have dominated decades but seldom have been as iconic as the Lakers in the 80s. Obviously, such a powerful team is a result of intense hard work and discipline. And Pat Riley, who had the reins of such a team, introduced stringent rules to keep the team in check. The latest documentary on Magic Johnson revealed such an incident. 

The new documentary on the Los Angeles Lakers legend dove deeper into the Lakers’ Showtime era and how they became the best in the world. As it turns out, the team’s legendary coach, Pat Riley, banned bringing players’ families on the road with the team in the post-season.

Pat Riley’s bizarre rules for Magic Johnson and the Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers were the hottest team in the NBA for more than a decade during the 80s, which cemented their legacy in the league. The team had stars like Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to carry them towards multiple Championship rings. However, with popularity came the allures of the LA nightlife.

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According to Johnson’s book, the Lakers players had 40-50 women waiting for them in the hotel. These kinds of distractions concerned Pat Riley as he formed an important rule for the Lakers roster moving forward.

In the latest Magic Johnson documentary titled ‘They call me Magic’, the wife of the Lakers legend, Cookie Johnson spoke about it. “Pat Riley’s rules were that family couldn’t travel with the team during the playoffs or during the Championship.” said Cookie. She further added, “The players were fined if one of their wives got caught on the road with them.”

Pat Riley’s rules made sense if there’s the context behind all of it. Fans would wonder why would the legendary coach impose such rules on an already successful team. Riley imposed stern guideless to remove any kind of distractions for the team. This helped the players to focus completely on their craft.

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In 1986, the Lakers had a 29-5 record for the start of the season, but still failed to win the NBA Championship. There can be a multitude of reasons for such failures, but Riley decided to make some specific changes.

What do you think of Pat Riley’s rule? Let us know in the comments.