You challenge me every time I play the Nicks, the Heats, I don't think you are with the Lakers, but every time I played against you, you have "Jordan Stoppers" on your team, you have John Starks who I love. You even had my friend Charles Oakley say "We can't go to the lunch, we can't go to the dinner, because Pat doesn't believe in friendship between two of us." And this guy hit me harder than anybody else in the league. He was my best friend. Patrick Erving and I are the same age. We camp up at the same time. But we can't go to the lunch. Why is this an issue? You think I play against Patrick any different than I play anybody else? No, no. And then you had your little guy, who was one of your staffs, and became the Nicks, coach after you, Jeff Van Gundy. He said I can't be a player, because as a friend of them I didn't want to attack them on the basketball court. Where did that come from? I just so happen to be a friendly guy. I get along with everybody, but at the same time when the light comes on, I am as competitive as anybody you know. So you guys, I must say thank you very much for giving me that motivation that I desperately needed.
你每次都挑战我，无论是执教尼克斯还是后来的热火，应该没有湖人。每次我与你比赛，你都有所为的“乔丹终结者”，你有我所喜欢的约翰·斯塔克斯。你甚至还有我的朋友查尔斯·奥克利。我朋友还说：“我们不能一起吃饭，因为帕托不相信我们之间有单纯的友情。”而他也是联盟中对我出的最狠的人，他还是我最好的朋友。帕特里克·尤因和我一样大，我们也是同一年进联盟的，但是我们却不能一起吃饭，这是什么原因？我在场上和帕特里克·尤因交手跟其他人不一样吗？不，不。而后，你的小跟班，教练团成员，后来执掌尼克斯教鞭，杰夫·范甘迪。他说我不能上场，因为我是他们的朋友，我会不忍心与他们对抗。这话从何说起？我不过刚好就是一个很友善的人，我和每个人的关系都很好。但是一旦进入球场，我就会全身心投入，竞争性丝毫不逊于任何人。我非常感谢你们给予了我所极度渴望的动力。
Phil Jackson, to me, is a professional Dean Smith. He challenged me mentally, not just physically. You know, he understood the game, along with Tex Winter. They taught me a lot about the basketball game. Tex being the specialsist, I can never please Tex. And I love Tex. Texis not here. But I know he is here in spirit.
菲尔·杰克逊，对我来说他就是我职业生涯的迪恩·史密斯，他磨练了我的意志，强健了我的体魄。他对比赛有很深刻的理解，特克斯·文特也对我做出了很多指导。他是专家，我很少能使他满意。我爱他。他今天没在现场，但我知道他的精神在。
