Pat Riley

Patrick Riley

Position	Guard, forward
Nickname	Pat, "Riles"
League	NBA
Height	ft  in ( m)
Weight	lb ( kg)
Team	Miami Heat
Nationality	USA
Born	March 20 1945 (1945--) (age 62) Rome, New York
College	University of Kentucky
Draft	7th, 1967 San Diego Rockets
Pro career	1967–1976
Former teams	San Diego Rockets Los Angeles Lakers Phoenix Suns

Patrick James "Pat" Riley (born March 20, 1945) is an American National Basketball Association head coach and team president of the Miami Heat. Widely regarded as one of the greatest NBA coaches of all time, Riley has served as the head coach of five championship teams and an assistant coach to another. He most recently won the 2006 NBA Championship with the Miami Heat. Prior to his tenure in Miami, he served as head coach for the Los Angeles Lakers and the New York Knicks. He also played for the Los Angeles Lakers' championship team in 1972, which brings his personal total to seven NBA titles.

Biography

Riley was born in Rome, New York, and raised in Schenectady.

Playing career

Riley played for Linton High School in Schenectady under New York State legendary coach Walt Przybylo[1]. Linton High School's 74-68 victory over New York City's Power Memorial on Dec. 29, 1961, is remembered mostly for its two stars: Power Memorial's Lew Alcindor, who later changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar; and his future coach with the Los Angeles Lakers, Linton's Riley. One of the greatest games in the history of Schenectady basketball, Riley said in 1991. Riley was a versatile athlete in college, participating in both basketball and football. He led the 1966 University of Kentucky basketball team, coached by the legendary Adolph Rupp, to the NCAA title game, where they lost to Texas Western (now known as UTEP), a game that was immortalized in the movie Glory Road. He was selected by the San Diego Rockets in the 1st round of the 1967 NBA Draft, and was also drafted as a flanker by the Dallas Cowboys in the 11th round of the 1967 NFL Draft. He joined the Rockets and later signed with the Los Angeles Lakers, helping them win the 1972 NBA Finals. After a relatively undistinguished playing career, he retired in 1976 as a member of the Western Conference champion Phoenix Suns.

Coaching career

Los Angeles Lakers

Riley returned to the NBA in 1977 as a broadcaster for the Lakers. During the 1979-80 season, when the team's head coach, Jack McKinney, was incapacitated following a bicycle accident, assistant coach Paul Westhead took over the team's head coaching duties. Riley then moved from the broadcast booth to the bench as one of Westhead's assistant coaches.

Six games into the 1981-82 season, Magic Johnson began to publicly say he was unhappy playing for Westhead. Lakers' owner Jerry Buss immediately called a press conference and fired Westhead, and then immediately named general manager Jerry West head coach. West, at the conference, refused the job on the spot. Buss then turned to Riley and asked, "Do you want the job?" Riley reluctantly agreed, but only if West would sit on the bench for a few games until he felt comfortable.

Riley led the Lakers to four consecutive NBA Finals appearances. His first title came in his first season, against the Philadelphia 76ers. Both teams returned to the Finals the next year, but Riley's Lakers were swept by the 76ers. The Lakers lost in the Finals again in 1984, to the Boston Celtics in seven games. The Lakers earned Riley his second NBA title as a coach in 1985 in a rematch of the previous year, as the Lakers beat the Celtics in six games. The Lakers' 4-year Western Conference streak was broken the following year by the Houston Rockets.

Riley redeemed himself in 1987, with a Lakers team that is considered one of the greatest teams of all-time. With future Hall of Famers Magic Johnson, James Worthy and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, plus important role players such as Michael Cooper, Byron Scott, A.C. Green, Mychal Thompson, and Kurt Rambis, the Lakers finished 65-17 in the regular season, third-best in team history. They met with similar success in the playoffs, dispatching the Celtics in six games to win Riley his third NBA title.

One of Riley's most famous moments came when he guaranteed the crowd a repeat championship during the Lakers' championship parade in downtown Los Angeles. While the 1988 Lakers did not produce as many wins in the regular season as the 1987 Lakers, they still managed to win an NBA title, becoming the first team in 20 years to repeat as champions. The Lakers beat the Detroit Pistons in seven games in the 1988 NBA Finals, making good on Riley's promise. Riley's titles with the Lakers as coach make him the fifth man to play for an NBA Championship team and later coach the same NBA team to a championship. The others are Bill Russell, Tom Heinsohn, K. C. Jones, and Billy Cunningham.

Although Riley would offer no further guarantees, his Lakers embarked upon a quest to obtain a third consecutive championship in 1989. Having successfully claimed a repeat championship the year before, the term used for this new goal was a "three-peat" championship, and indeed Riley, through his corporate entity, Riles & Co., actually trademarked the phrase "three-peat"^[1] (which, coincidentally, he would later profit on via the Chicago Bulls accomplishing the feat twice, at the professional expense of Riley himself). But ultimately, the Lakers were swept by the Pistons in the 1989 NBA Finals.

Riley stepped down as coach of the Lakers after they lost to the Phoenix Suns in the 1990 NBA playoffs, amid rumors of player mistreatment and anger problems on his part. In spite of these rumors and his resignation, he was named NBA Coach of the Year for the first time.

New York Knicks

After stepping down as coach, Riley accepted a job as a television commentator for NBC. However, this job only lasted one year, as he became head coach of the New York Knicks in 1991. In 1993, he led the Knicks to the best regular season record in team history and received his second Coach of the Year award. Commentators especially admired Riley's ability to work with the physical, deliberate Knicks, considering that he was associated with the fast-paced Lakers in the 1980s. Riley returned to the NBA Finals in 1994, but his Knicks lost in seven games to the Houston Rockets after being up 3–2 in the series.

Miami Heat

In 1995, Riley resigned from the Knicks. The move caused some controversy, as the Heat were accused by the Knicks of tampering by pursuing Riley while he still had a year remaining on his contract with the Knicks^[2]. The matter was settled after the Heat sent their 1996 first round pick (which the Knicks would use to draft Walter McCarty) and $1 million in cash to the Knicks on September 1, 1995. Riley's coaching of the Heat to playoff contention would later make them bitter rivals with his former team.

In 1995-1996, Miami was swept in the first round by Phil Jackson-coached Chicago Bulls, who were led by a rejuvenated Michael Jordan. This season was most notable for the ongoing housecleaning that took place, with the arrival of building blocks Alonzo Mourning and Tim Hardaway. The offseason would also bring them Nets forward P.J. Brown and Suns swingman Dan Majerle.

In 1997, the Heat defeated his old team, the Knicks, in a physical seven game series. Advancing to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time in franchise history, they proved no match for Jordan and his Bulls. Riley was selected as Coach of the Year for the third time, after leading Miami to a 61–21 regular season record, 1st in the Atlantic division.

The Heat would compile consecutive seasons over 0.600. However, the 1998, 1999, and 2000 playoffs would be disappointments as they lost to the arch-rival Knicks; the first two in the opening round and the latter in the second round.

Riley then entered the 2000 season armed for bear. In a shuffling of the deck, Riley traded away Brown and Jamal Mashburn in exchange for Eddie Jones in one trade and acquired Brian Grant in another, although suffering a major setback after discovering Alonzo Mourning's kidney condition. After finishing a respectable 50-32 in 2001 in spite of the new nucleus and the loss of their star center, the Heat organized a housecleaning after the season, as the Heat lost two of their best players when guard Tim Hardaway was traded to the Dallas Mavericks and Anthony Mason signed with the Milwaukee Bucks. In part because of these departures, the Heat finished a disappointing 36-46 in 2002. Riley was so disgusted with the Heat's performance that he declared he was about to "fire himself."

Before the beginning of the 2003-2004 season, he did step down as Heat coach, to fully dedicate his attention to his duties as general manager. Longtime assistant Stan Van Gundy and rookie Dwyane Wade, whom Riley drafted 5th overall, led the Heat back into the playoffs with a 42–40 record after starting 0-7. Riley concentrated on improving the team even further before the 2004-2005 season. One of his biggest moves as full-time general manager was to trade Caron Butler, Brian Grant, Lamar Odom and a first-round draft pick to the Lakers for superstar Shaquille O'Neal. Head coach Van Gundy led the Heat to the Eastern Conference finals during the 2005 playoffs, although they lost to the Detroit Pistons after being up 3-2 in the series.

Riley resumed coaching the Heat on December 12, 2005, replacing Stan Van Gundy after the Heat started the season with a disappointing 11–10 record. Van Gundy had resigned in order to "spend more time with [his] family." Although Van Gundy maintained that his decision to resign was his own, there has been speculation that he was pushed out by Riley.^{[citation needed]}

The move came as a shock to the basketball community, with some speculating that with Shaquille O'Neal returning from injury, Dwyane Wade having his best season yet, and a high-caliber roster including Gary Payton, Jason Williams and Antoine Walker, Riley wanted to try to regain his former glory by coaching Miami to its first NBA Championship. Riley's Heat team defeated his Los Angeles Lakers-days nemesis, the Detroit Pistons, in the 2006 Eastern Conference playoffs on June 2, 2006, making it the first time the Miami Heat reached the finals. Riley's Heat squared off against the Dallas Mavericks in the 2006 NBA Finals. Despite losing the first two games to Dallas, the Heat rallied to win the final four games and their first NBA Championship. It was Riley's fifth championship as a head coach. He joined Alex Hannum and Phil Jackson as the only coaches to coach two different teams to NBA titles. He also became the only coach to twice replace a coach in mid-season and take that team to an NBA title.^[3]

Despite speculation of his possible retirement, on August 23, 2006 Riley announced that he would return as head coach of the Heat for at least one more season. His coaching record currently stands at 1,151–589.

On January 3, 2007 Riley announced that he would take an indefinite leave of absence from coaching due to ongoing "hip and knee problems". Assistant coach Ron Rothstein had assumed interim duties until Riley's return on February 19, 2007.

On April 29, 2007, the 5th-seeded Chicago Bulls completed a four-game sweep of the 4th-seeded Miami Heat (Chicago had the better record but Miami won its division championship).

On August 13, 2007 Riley announced that he would be returning for the next three seasons.

Outside of basketball

Outside of basketball, Riley has developed into a pop-culture figure. This is born out of Riley's signature look, a slicked-back hairstyle, which is often described as gangster-looking and his immaculate tan. He came to the public eye leading the "Showtime" Lakers of the 1980s, furthering his image by "guaranteeing" a championship. It should also be noted that Riley has coached in three American cities well known for popular nightlife and celebrity culture. Riley is also known for his friendship with Giorgio Armani, preferring to wear Armani suits during basketball games, and even modeling once at an Armani show.

Riley is also a highly successful motivational speaker during the off-season. Riley earns in excess of $50,000 for each speaking engagement. Pat Riley's speaker profile

Riley and his wife Chris, have two children, James and Elisabeth Riley.

On February 27, 2007, the Miami Heat were honored for their 2005-2006 NBA Championship at the White House. During the ceremony, Riley presented George W. Bush with a jersey before announcing, "I voted for the man. If you don’t vote you don’t count." After the ceremony, Riley was questioned by reporters about the political nature of his comments. He responded by saying, "I’m pro-American, pro-democracy, I’m pro-government. I follow my boss. He’s my boss."^[4]

Trivia

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

• As reported by many players of the Miami Heat after they won the 2006 NBA Finals, Riley told the team on June 8 (the day of the first Finals game against the Dallas Mavericks) that they would win the championship on June 20. This prediction ended up coming true after the team took the series in 6 games on the 20.^{[citation needed]}
• Riley had the Heat retire Michael Jordan's Bulls jersey as a sign of respect.
• Riley is also known to golf on his free time.^{[citation needed]}
• Of all NBA coaches, Riley has collected the third largest number of wins, behind Lenny Wilkens and Don Nelson.
• Riley is  ft  in ( m) tall.^[5]
• In 1990, the Sega Genesis Game, Pat Riley Basketball, was released to the public. It starred Pat Riley with 5 Teams.
• Pat Riley, as a young man, was featured in the 2006 movie, Glory Road, as a player for the University of Kentucky. He was played by Wesley Brown.
• Riley made an uncredited appearance in the 1972 Columbo episode, The Most Crucial Game.

College basketball statistics as a player

NBA statistics as a player

References

External links

• NBA.com Coaches – Pat Riley

bat-smg:Pat Riley

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