Patrick James Riley was born on March 20,1945 and is an American professional basketball executive, former coach, and former player in the National Basketball Association.
36 Facts About Pat Riley
2.
Pat Riley has been the team president of the Miami Heat since 1995, and he served as the team's head coach from 1995 to 2003 and again from 2005 to 2008.
3.
Pat Riley is a nine-time NBA champion across his tenures as a player, assistant coach, head coach, and executive.
4.
Pat Riley was named NBA Coach of the Year three times.
5.
Pat Riley was head coach of an NBA All-Star Game team nine times: eight times with the Western Conference team and once with the Eastern team.
6.
Pat Riley is the first North American sports figure to win a championship as a player, as an assistant coach, as a head coach, and as an executive, and in various roles has reached the NBA finals in six different decades.
7.
Pat Riley received the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award from the NBA Coaches Association on June 20,2012.
8.
Pat Riley was born in Rome, New York and raised in Schenectady, New York.
9.
Pat Riley is the son of Mary Rosalia and Leon Riley, who played 22 seasons of minor league baseball as an outfielder and first baseman, and appeared in four games for the 1944 Philadelphia Phillies.
10.
Pat Riley played basketball for Linton High School in Schenectady under head coach Walt Przybylo and assistants Bill Rapavy and Ed Catino.
11.
Pat Riley was selected by the San Diego Rockets as the seventh overall pick of the 1967 NBA draft.
12.
Pat Riley played a significant role as a reserve on the Lakers' 1972 NBA Championship team.
13.
Pat Riley retired in 1976, having averaged 7.4 points per game over his nine seasons in the league.
14.
Pat Riley returned to the NBA in 1977 as a broadcaster for the Lakers.
15.
Thereafter, Pat Riley was the interim head coach, until his status became permanent.
16.
Pat Riley ushered in the Lakers' "Showtime" era, along with superstar players Johnson and Abdul-Jabbar with their running game.
17.
Pat Riley became a celebrity in his own right, a fashion icon for his Armani suits and slicked-back hair which complemented the team's Hollywood image.
18.
Pat Riley's mantra was "no rebounds, no rings", reinforcing the need to fight for rebounds in order to win championships.
19.
Pat Riley led the Lakers to four consecutive NBA Finals appearances.
20.
In 1987, Pat Riley coached a Lakers team that is considered one of the best teams of all time.
21.
At the time of his departure, Pat Riley was the foremost coach in the NBA with a level of fame not seen since Red Auerbach.
22.
In 1993, Pat Riley led the Knicks to their best regular season record in team history and received his second Coach of the Year award.
23.
Pat Riley returned to the NBA Finals, in 1994, en route defeating the three-time defending champion Bulls in seven games during the Eastern Conference semifinals.
24.
In 1995, Pat Riley resigned from the Knicks via fax to become president and head coach of the Miami Heat, with complete control over basketball operations.
25.
In 1997, Pat Riley's Heat defeated his old team, the Knicks, in a physical seven-game series.
26.
Pat Riley then traded Brown and Jamal Mashburn in exchange for Eddie Jones in one trade and acquired Brian Grant in another, although the team suffered a major setback after Alonzo Mourning was lost for the season due to a kidney ailment.
27.
Pat Riley was so disgusted with the Heat's performance that he declared he was about to "fire himself".
28.
In July 2004, Pat Riley traded Caron Butler, Brian Grant, Lamar Odom, and a first-round draft pick to the Lakers for star center Shaquille O'Neal.
29.
Pat Riley's Heat squared off against the Dallas Mavericks in the 2006 NBA Finals.
30.
In 2010, Pat Riley acquired LeBron James and Chris Bosh to form the Heat's "Big Three" with Dwyane Wade.
31.
Outside basketball, Pat Riley has developed into a pop culture figure.
32.
In 1988, Pat Riley published a book entitled Showtime: Inside the Lakers' Breakthrough Season, a New York Times best-seller which recapped the Lakers' successful run to the 1987 NBA Championship.
33.
One of the phrases Pat Riley coined in the book was the "Disease of More", stating that "success is often the first step toward disaster" and that defending champions often fail the following season because every player who returns wants more playing time, more shots per game, and more money.
34.
In 1993, while coaching the New York Knicks, Pat Riley published a second New York Times bestseller entitled The Winner Within: A Life Plan for Team Players.
35.
Pat Riley is known for his friendship with Giorgio Armani, preferring to wear Armani suits during basketball games and modeling once at an Armani show.
36.
Pat Riley has been married to the former Christine Rodstrom since June 26,1970.