It was the first day of training camp for the Knicks, the very first time Pat Riley led a session in Charleston.
Anthony Mason and Xavier McDaniel, two massive humans with chips permanently attached to their shoulders, got feisty during a box-out drill and engaged in a one-on-one brawl.
Punches were thrown. As a witness described, Riley, the legendary coach in his opening year with the Knicks, calmly watched the violence unfold. When it settled, Riley told the vets that Mason, a new signing from the USBL, clearly deserved their respect.
“Now you’re teammates,” he said.
Practice resumed. Right then, in Charleston, the tone of the ’90s Knicks was established.
“Anthony Mason was, by nature, a cantankerous, difficult personality. He was just that way,” Dave Checketts, the Knicks’ former top executive, told The Post. “And I wasn’t sure that I thought he should stick around. But Riles was sold on him after that. He said, ‘That’s exactly the kind of guy I want to coach.’”
Tom Thibodeau wasn’t yet a part of the franchise in 1991. He arrived five years later as an assistant and the Knicks were still holding their camp in Charleston.
It was a tradition of a golden era, passed down from Riley and continued through seven different coaches, including the disastrous reigns of Larry Brown and Isiah Thomas.
Now, Thibodeau and Leon Rose are bringing it back. The Knicks begin camp in Charleston on Tuesday, staying for about a week before their preseason opener against the Celtics.
There’s a big change — they’re training at The Citadel, rather than the College of Charleston. But it’s the franchise’s first time in the Holy City in 16 years.
“We didn’t come in there bulls—-ing. When we got to Charleston, it was, ‘Let’s go and win this title.’ And if you’re not on board, ask for a trade,” Chris Childs, the former Knicks point guard, told The Post. “Or we’re going to beat your ass everyday in practice.”
The comparisons between eras are overplayed, exaggerated. As long as there’s a 3-point line, there will never be another version of the ’90s Knicks. Riley’s first Knicks team connected on 201 3-pointers. Julius Randle hit more than that by himself last season. It’s a lot more difficult to muddy up a game that’s played 24 feet from the basket.
But Charleston is a place, not a playing style. The idea is to maximize focus, camaraderie and conditioning in a secluded setting. Those things are timeless. And nobody is better at fostering a winning environment than Riley, who also cultivated the “Heat Culture” that eliminated Thibodeau’s Knicks from last season’s playoffs.
“Riles wanted to go away,” former Knicks GM Ernie Grunfeld told The Post. “At first, we looked at Jamaica at an Air Force base. But I think it was [former Hawks coach] Mike Fratello who told us to look into the College of Charleston. And it was perfect.”
Riley’s operation was immediately covered in first class. For his inaugural team dinner, Riley bought out a restaurant, Garibaldis, but didn’t like the way the napkins were displayed. So, he ordered them rearranged from folded flat to upright. All of them.
The separation not only limited distractions, but also kept events like the Mason-McDaniel brawl a secret for decades. The most unsavory story — a sex romp at the Charleston hotel involving players and strippers in 1997 — was only uncovered because the strip-club owner was indicted by the FBI.
“We were out of sight, out of mind of ownership, press, fans,” Checketts said. “It was our own little enclave. Perfect for training. Perfect for everybody relaxing and working hard and coming together. … That’s where you knew what kind of team you had. Right away.”
With the exception of a lockout-shortened season, Charlie Ward knew nothing else during his first 10-year career with the Knicks. Charleston and training camp were synonymous.
The former point guard is unsurprised that Thibodeau, who coached Ward as an assistant from 1996-2003, is going back.
Doc Rivers, who played for the Knicks under Riley, took the Sixers to Charleston for camp last year.
“That’s part of Thibs’ roots,” Ward told The Post. “He has the same thought processes that coach Van Gundy had. And the reasons they did it. And I can see why he did it.”
Of course, expectations have changed a bit from the ’90s. Two decades of losing has lowered the bar.
But for the first time since Van Gundy was on the sideline, the Knicks are heading to Charleston with a playoff series victory to build on.
“Knick fans telling me now, ‘Hey, we made the playoffs.’ In my years, the expectation was that we’re making the NBA Finals,” Checketts said. “Expectations have dropped dramatically. And I think Tom is trying to change all that.”
