Green Years

On March 20, 1945, Pat Riley was born in Schenectady, New York. His father, Leon, was a baseball player when he was young. He became the manager of a low-level baseball league in Philadelphia while his mother was a Catholic housewife. Riley inherited his father's athletic talent and was an all-around star in basketball, football, baseball and track and field while attending Linton High School. As a member of the Linton basketball school team, they once defeated the historically famous Power Memorial High School team (led by Lew Alcindor, later the Lakers' legendary center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar). Riley's high school basketball coach, Walt Przybylo, was a persuasive and inspiring person. Like a father, he inspired the young Riley to make progress. As one of the few American high school coaches who was proficient in fast-break tactics at the time, Przybylo's guidance was very important to Riley. It had a profound influence on the subsequent formation of coaching style.

Riley showed his strong, confident, keen and leadership qualities early on. His high school basketball teammate Paul Heiner mentioned such an episode when recalling the game that year: In an intercollegiate basketball game in 1962, Riley was elbowed by an opponent and knocked out a tooth, but he just calmly walked up, kicked the tooth out of the court, and then continued the game. Riley, for his part, never allowed himself to be distracted by such things during his game. In recognition of Riley's outstanding achievements, Linton High School renamed the school gymnasium after him in 1997. In 2000, Riley became a member of the Linton High School Hall of Fame.

After graduating from high school in 1963, Riley rejected the invitation of Bear Bryant, the famous football coach of the University of Alabama, and instead chose to play basketball at the University of Kentucky, studying under the legendary NCAA coach Adolph Rupp. Riley's performance in college was dazzling. He won the Team MVP for three consecutive years starting from his sophomore year, and averaged 22.0 points per game in his junior year, leading the famous "Rupp's Runts". Rupp's Shorty Team, so named because no one on the Kentucky Wildcats was taller than 6-5, reached the 1966 NCAA Finals (losing to Texas Western in the final). As the star of the team, college student Riley is known for his soft jump shot, good at using his brain and frequent fouls. He is the basketball player with the most fouls in the history of the University of Kentucky (statistics starting from his sophomore year).

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Player Career

Although he never played for the school football team in college, when Riley graduated in 1967, He was still selected by the NFL's Dallas Cowboys with the 11th overall pick (his brother Lee has played for many NFL teams), and the NBA's San Diego Rockets also selected him with the 7th overall pick in the first round. There's no doubt Riley chose basketball again. Riley has been playing in the NBA for 9 years as a player. Although he has always been a substitute and has not played outstanding personal statistics, he has helped the team reach the finals three times and won a championship ring. .

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In the 1967-68 season, rookie Riley played 80 times with the Rockets and averaged 7.9 points per game. The next year, he switched from SF to SG and increased his scoring average to 8.8 points per game. Unfortunately, Riley tore his knee late in the season. This injury seriously affected his playing career. Riley only played 36 games in the 1969-70 season and was waived by the Rockets in the Expansion Draft at the end of the season. The new NBA team Portland Trail Blazers changed hands after taking Riley. He was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers.

As a member of the famous "Pine Brothers" on the Lakers bench, Riley spent five full seasons in Los Angeles, including the 1971-72 season when he helped the team achieve an NBA record. 33 consecutive wins and the best regular season record of 69 wins and 13 losses (this record was not rewritten until the 1995-96 season by the Chicago Bulls). In the playoffs of that season, the Lakers also went all the way, and finally defeated the Knicks 4:1 to win the championship.

With the retirement of the two core players Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West, Riley's importance in the Lakers gradually increased. In the 1974-75 season, Riley averaged 11.0 points per game. This is also the only time in his NBA career that he averaged more than 10 points per game in a season. In the 1975-76 season, Riley was traded to the Phoenix Suns after playing two games for the Lakers, and helped the Suns reach the Finals for the first time in history, but unfortunately lost to the Portland Trail Blazers 2:4. However, Riley chose to retire after the season.

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Show Time

Riley returned to the Lakers in 1977 as a commentator and partnered with Chick Hearn, the voice of the Lakers, to commentate on the game. . At the beginning of the 1979-80 season, former Lakers head coach Jack McKinney had to resign due to injuries in a bicycle accident. Assistant coach Paul Westhead took over and invited Riley to become his assistant. This year, the Lakers ranked first in the Western Conference in the regular season with 60 wins and 22 losses, and defeated the Philadelphia 76ers led by Dr. J 4:2 in the finals to win the championship.

The Lakers' status declined in the 1980-81 season, with a regular season record of 54 wins and 28 losses, and they were eliminated by the Houston Rockets in the first round of the playoffs. At the beginning of the 1981-82 season, Westhead's coaching still showed little improvement, and the friction with Magic Johnson deepened. The Lakers management finally couldn't bear it and fired him after 11 games and replaced him with Riley.

After taking office, Riley tailor-made running offense tactics for the Lakers and achieved immediate results. The Lakers won 17 of the next 20 games and ranked first in the Western Conference with a record of 57 wins and 25 losses at the end of the regular season. In the playoffs, the Lakers continued their efforts, shutting out the Suns and Spurs, and once again defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 4:2 in the finals. Riley won the championship in his first season as head coach.

Riley led the Lakers to the Finals in each of the next two seasons, but lost to the Philadelphia 76ers and Boston Celtics respectively. In 1985, the Lakers made a comeback and finally defeated their old rival Celtics 4:2 in the Finals, avenging last season's defeat. The Lakers and Celtics have met eight times in the Finals before and both lost. This sweet revenge has extraordinary significance for both the Purple and Gold Dynasty and Riley himself.

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The Lakers' loss to the Houston Rockets in the Western Conference Finals of the 1986 playoffs prompted Riley to seek new ways to build the roster. In the 1986-87 season, Riley began to implement the CBE (Career Best Effort) strategy in the Lakers, that is, he no longer uses the ability of the players as the ranking criterion, but conducts a comprehensive and detailed comparison of each player with opponents in the same position. In this way, each player can clearly understand their own strengths and weaknesses, and know how to find the right direction to improve themselves to play well in the game. At the end of the regular season, the Lakers ranked first in the league with 65 wins and 17 losses. This was also the best record achieved in Riley's coaching career. In the playoffs, the Lakers were unabated, sweeping the Nuggets, Warriors and Spurs with an astonishing 11-1 performance, and defeated the Celtics 4-2 in the finals to win the championship.

At the celebration after winning the championship in 1987, Riley openly promised that he would lead the Lakers to defend the title next season. No championship team has been able to do this in the past 18 years. Leigh hopes his team can break this curse.

Riley later mentioned this in the book "The Winner Within": "Defending the championship is an unbearable pressure... I hope the Lakers guys can feel this sense of urgency right away and... During the vacation, they should think about the responsibilities they will take on." Michael Cooper, a Lakers player at the time, said in an interview with the Boston Globe: "We haven't even had time to reflect on the championship we won..."

Riley did not break his promise. The Lakers in the 1987-88 season were still terrible, ranking first in the league with a record of 62 wins and 20 losses in the regular season. However, in the playoffs, the Lakers encountered unprecedented stubborn resistance. In addition to easily sweeping the Spurs 3:0 in the first round, when they played against the Jazz, Mavericks and Pistons, they fought hard until the seventh game. . Three 4:3s, Riley and his Lakers withstood the greatest pressure, and the defending champion deserved it. Riley later recalled: "Before the final battle against the Pistons, I told the Lakers boys that our opponents were fighting for a championship, but we had a higher goal, to create history." 108-105 , the Lakers made history.

In the 1987-88 season, the Lakers once again entered the playoffs as the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, and in the first three rounds, they shut out the Trail Blazers, SuperSonics and Suns to achieve 11 consecutive victories. However, Magic Johnson and Byron Scott's injury and absence greatly reduced the team's strength in the finals, and they were eventually humiliated by the "Bad Boys" of the Pistons 0:4.

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In the 1989-90 season, Riley’s last year coaching the Lakers, he led the team to rank first in the league with 63 wins and 19 losses in the regular season. This was also the best record in his coaching career. The second best record achieved, however, the Lakers were eliminated by the Suns 1:4 in the second round of the playoffs. Although the team did not perform as expected in the playoffs, Riley won his first Coach of the Year award as head coach.

In the 9 seasons that Riley coached the Lakers, he led the team to the finals 7 times and won 4 NBA championships. Among them, there were 533 wins and 194 losses in the regular season (win rate 73.3%), and 102 wins and 47 losses in the playoffs (win rate 68.5%), both ranking first in the history of the Lakers. In these nine years, the Lakers averaged an astonishing 59 regular-season wins per season. Their mercury-like offensive style was called "Show Time" by the world, and Riley was undoubtedly the mastermind behind this drama. director.

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Despite his brilliant record, Riley has never become conservative because of this, but has always maintained a personal style of being enterprising and diligent in thinking. During his time coaching the Lakers, he summed up many unique leadership experiences, one of which he called TI (temporary insanity). Riley has this description of TI in his book "The Winner Within": "The so-called TI is to vent moderate anger to the right person at the right time... This is a premeditated plan, and after the venting, There needs to be comfort so as not to cause permanent damage."

Riley's good friend, director Robert Towne, once told Sports Illustrated a story about a timeout during a game against the Spurs. During this period, some players did not listen carefully to Riley's tactical arrangements, but were watching Dancing Barry's antics on the field. After losing the game, Riley was furious in the locker room and swept a plate containing 40 cups of Coke to the floor. Coke and ice cubes were splashed everywhere on the carpet, and even Jabbar's new suit was not spared. Riley, on the other hand, thought his anger had the desired effect.

Go Home

After leaving the Lakers in 1990, Riley served as a guest host on NBC's "NBA Showtime" program, but he only held this job once. In 1991, Riley couldn't bear the loneliness and soon announced his comeback in May 1991. This time he coached the Knicks in his hometown of New York.

As a veteran team in the NBA, the New York Knicks have mostly been hovering in the middle and lower reaches. During the ten years from 1981 to 91, the Knicks only won more than half of their regular season games in four seasons. The last time the team reached the NBA Finals was in 1973.

Riley's joining changed everything. In the 4 seasons he coached the Knicks, he won more than 50 regular season games in each season, and his winning rate of 68.0% (223 wins and 105 losses) ranked first in the team's history ( The second place is Van Gundy's 59.0%). In the three seasons from 91 to 94, the Knicks entered the playoffs as the first place in the Atlantic Division. Compared with the talented Lakers, Riley encountered much greater difficulties in the Knicks. There was only one superstar in the team, Ewing. However, Riley was able to assess the situation and changed his original gorgeous and smooth offensive style. Instead, he used the three magic weapons of "defense first", "rebounding first" and "center advantage". With Charles Oakley, John Starks, A group of role players such as Anthony Mason came to assist Ewing, and through their iron-blooded defense, the Knicks quickly became a top team in the league.

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In the 1991-92 season, Riley led the Knicks to a record of 51 wins and 31 losses in the regular season, 12 more wins than the previous season. In the first round of the playoffs, the Knicks defeated the "Bad Boy Corps" Pistons 3:2, but in the second round they met the defending champion Chicago Bulls led by Jordan and lost 3:4.

In the 1992-93 season, the Knicks went one step further, ranking first in the Eastern Conference with a record of 60 wins and 22 losses in the regular season. Riley also relied on his excellent commanding skills and tireless work to defeat the Knicks by one vote. Rudy Tomjanovich was once again elected NBA Coach of the Year. In the subsequent playoffs, the Knicks first eliminated the Pacers 3:1, then defeated the Hornets 4:1, and met the Chicago Bulls again in the Eastern Conference Finals, only to suffer the bitter consequences 2:4.

In the summer of 1993, Jordan announced his retirement, which also gave Riley and the Knicks a chance to turn around. With 57 wins and 25 losses, the team once again entered the playoffs ranked first in the Eastern Conference during the regular season. After going through seven battles with the Chicago Bulls and Indiana Pacers and winning with difficulty, the Knicks finally made it back to the NBA Finals after 21 years. The Knicks' opponent in the finals was the Houston Rockets led by Olajuwon. This confrontation was also a classic center duel in NBA history. The core players of both teams, Ewing and Olajuwon, both played at a very high level. The Knicks once led by a score of 3:2. , but in the end they were defeated by the Rockets 4:3. In the last game, John Starks' poor 2-for-18 shooting became the main reason for the Knicks' defeat.

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In the 1994-95 season, the Knicks entered the playoffs with a record of 55 wins and 27 losses, but were eliminated by the Pacers 4:3 in the Eastern Conference semifinals. After the season, Riley jumped to the Miami Heat as team president and head coach. Since Riley still had one year left on his contract with the Knicks, Heat owner Micky Arison agreed to pay the Knicks a first-round draft pick. rights and US$1 million as compensation.

Building Miami

The Miami Heat were founded in 1988 as a new team in the NBA. They had only entered the playoffs twice before Riley arrived. And they were all eliminated in the first round. However, team owner Micky Arison is a very ambitious billionaire. He invited Riley at all costs, hoping to create a new dynasty in Miami.

Riley made significant adjustments to the roster after arriving with the Heat. He acquired All-Star center Alonzo Mourning from the Charlotte Hornets through a 6-player trade before the season. On February 22, 1996, just hours before the player trade deadline, Riley poached All-Star guard Tim Hardaway from the Golden State Warriors. Due to his mediocre performance in the first few seasons with the Warriors, Hardaway was regarded as a star by many expert media at the time. However, he regained his vitality after coming to the Heat. Not only was he selected to the All-Star twice, but he also competed with Jordan in 1997. Together they were selected to the NBA All-NBA Team of the Year.

Although Riley completely reshaped the team's lineup in the 1995-96 season, with as many as 22 players coming and going (only Keith Askins was retained from last season's Heat team), the team still achieved success. With a record of 42 wins and 40 losses, not only did they win 10 more games than last season, but they also made it to the top 8 of the playoffs for the third time in history.

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In the 1996-97 season, Riley led the Heat to the best record in club history of 61 wins and 21 losses in the regular season, and he was also named to the NBA for the third time. Coach of the Year. In the playoffs, the Heat eliminated the Orlando Magic and the New York Knicks, reaching the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time, but ultimately lost to the Chicago Bulls led by Jordan 1:4. At the NBA's 50th anniversary celebration before the season, Riley also received another honor. He was named one of the top ten coaches in NBA history.

In the three seasons from 1997 to 2000, the Heat entered the playoffs ranked first in the Atlantic Division. However, they never went further in the playoffs than in 1997. Far. In the summer of 2000, Riley signed three-time All-Star guard Eddie Jones and iron-blooded power forward Brian Grant to prepare for another championship. However, God is not as good as man. On October 16, 2000, the team's core Alonzo Mourning announced that he had been diagnosed with kidney disease and would miss the entire season. After suffering this heavy blow, most media and experts believe that the Heat will fail to recover in the new season and miss the playoffs. However, Riley once again proved his ability to coach in adversity. He led the Heat into the playoffs that season with a regular season record of 50 wins and 32 losses, third in the Eastern Conference. Among them, the Heat's first game against the Magic on November 1, 2000 was Riley's 1,000th victory since coaching the NBA. Before that, only Lenny Wilkens had reached this glorious record. It only took Riley 1,434 games to become the coach of Qiansheng, the fastest among the four major professional sports leagues in the United States (NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL).

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In the 2001-02 season, with the departure of key players such as Tim Hardaway, Anthony Mason, and Bruce Bowen, the Heat's record declined significantly. With a record of 36 wins and 46 losses in the regular season, Riley failed to win more than half of the games for the first time in his 20 years as coach. It was also the first time in his coaching history that he was blocked from the playoffs. In the 2002-03 season, the Heat's record was even worse, falling to the bottom with 25 wins and 57 losses. Riley, who had always been arrogant, was finally overwhelmed. Four days before the start of the 2003-04 season, he announced that he would be relieved of his position as head coach and replaced his assistant coach Stan Van Gundy.

Riley, who resigned as head coach, concentrated on selecting talents for the Heat as team president. In 2003, he selected Flash Dwyane Wade in the draft. In 2004, he used Lamar Odom and Caron Butler, Brian Grant and a first-round pick were acquired from the Lakers in exchange for Shaq. In the summer of 2005, Riley single-handedly orchestrated the largest player trade in NBA history. In this multi-party trade involving 13 players from five teams, the Heat acquired three strong players: Antoine Walker, Jason Williams and James Posey. Riley then signed Hall of Fame point guard Gary Payton. Under his careful management, the Heat has assembled a star-studded lineup in the new season and has an unprecedentedly strong lineup, with the goal of directly targeting the championship.

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Outside of basketball

Riley is not only a top NBA coach, but also an outstanding speaker. "America's greatest motivational speaker." His business speaking engagements are widely acclaimed among corporate groups in the United States, and he charges up to $40,000 an hour.

Among NBA coaches, Riley is known for being well-dressed. He is a good friend of Giorgio Armani, the founder of Armani, and has been a brand spokesperson for Armani. In 1996, Riley was named the Best Dressed Man of the Year by GQ magazine.

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Riley is the author of two best-selling books, "Show Time," a look back at his coaching years with the Lakers, and "The Winner Within," a detailed look at Describes Riley's winning philosophy.

Riley and his wife Chris have always been very concerned about philanthropy. The Miami Fever Family Outreach Program they established in 1997 has raised more than $4 million for community welfare causes in South Florida to date; as early as In 1992, when Riley was coaching the New York Knicks, they began to fund the AIDS Children's Foundation and the YMCA; for more than 30 years, Riley has been an active participant in the Boys and Girls Club (a non-governmental organization that helps children in the United States). , and was awarded the Boys and Girls Club Miami Individual of the Year Award in 1998.