Ex-WCW president encouraged Rodman to provoke Malone during 1998 Finals

Former WCW president Eric Bischoff says the scuffle between Dennis Rodman and Karl Malone during Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals was set up to push a wrestling storyline involving the two players.

In an interview with TMZ Sports, Bischoff admitted he encouraged Rodman to go after Malone, though not in a way that would impact the outcome of the game.

"Now, what I said to Dennis - not to Karl - was, 'Hey Dennis, if anything were to happen off court while there's a timeout, while there's no gameplay. If you guys happen to rough it up a little bit at the sidelines, or look like you're going to and establish that intent, so that the feud, if you will, between Karl Malone and Dennis Rodman is real, on a kind of a 360-degree basis, not just what happens on our television show, that wouldn't piss me off at all.'

"It was kind of subtle, but clear, I guess ... and I made sure with respect to my boss, Harvey Schiller at Turner Sports, and the NBA, I did it in a way to be a little bit hands-off and make sure it didn't interrupt the gameplay."

Rodman and Malone squared off at WCW's "Bash at the Beach" pay-per-view event in July 1998 as part of a tag-team match involving Hulk Hogan and Diamond Dallas Page.

"As a wrestling producer, to be able to create a moment - however subtly I did that and communicated it - to be able to create a moment that played out on a platform so huge as the NBA playoffs was really satisfying," Bischoff said.