Riley Pat

Patrick James Riley was born in the small town of Rome in New York State. His father was a baseball player and played in the minor baseball league for the Philadelphia Phillies. At the school level, Pat played basketball with Linton from Schenectady .

After graduating from school in 1963, Riley entered the University of Kentucky and in the second year of his studies began playing in the University of Kentucky Wildcats team under the guidance of renowned trainer Adolf Rapp . As part of the Wild Cats, Pat wore No. 42, which was subsequently assigned to him.

In his second season, Riley collected several individual prizes at once, including the Basketball Player of the Year Southeast Conference prize and getting into the first symbolic NCAA team. The team reached the final of the student championship of the 1965/1966 season, in which they lost in a dramatic match to the UTEP Miners team of the Texas West College of the University of Texas in . The events of this match were included in the 2006 feature film "The Road to Glory" (at the Russian box office - "Playing by Others' Rules") , and Riley was shown in it as the main player of Kentucky Wildcats.

In the 1967 NBA draft, he was selected by the San Diego Rockets team, from where he left for the Los Angeles Lakers in 1970. In 1972, as part of the Lakers, Riley became the NBA champion. However, not getting enough playing time, leaves for the Phoenix Suns . In 1976 he ends his basketball career.

In 1977 he returned to the NBA as a coach and became an assistant coach for the Lakers. And in 1982, after the scandal over which the Los Angeles head coach was fired, Riley became the head coach. After several seasons, the team becomes one of the best teams in the history of the NBA. The team several times became the champion of the NBA (1982, 1985, 1987, 1988). In 1990, Riley announced the completion of his coaching career, but in 1991 he returned and became the New York Knicks head coach. In 1995, Riley became the trainer and president of the Miami Heat with a scandal. Under the leadership of Riley, Hit won 1000 matches. Hit won its thousandth victory over Orlando Magic . In 2006, Hit became the NBA champions of the 2005/06 season .

In total, Pat Riley is a nine-time NBA champion, 6 times he became a winner as a coach, 1 time as a player and 2 times as a manager. 3 times recognized as a coach of the year .

In 2008, Riley was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame ^[1] .

Riley is a friend of Giorgio Armani and wears costumes exclusively from this designer, even once participated in their show. His wife's name is Chris, has two children - James and Elizabeth Riley.

Riley played for the Linton High School basketball team in Schenectady , New York , under the guidance of head coach, Walt Pshibilo, and his aides, Bill Rapavi, and Ed Catino. Linton High School's victory over the New York Memorial of Power on December 29, 1961 , with a score of 74-68, was remembered mainly due to two stars: Lew Alsindor (who later changed his name to Karim Abdul-Jabbar ) and his future coach from the Los Angeles Lakers , Pat Riley ^[2] .

Riley was a versatile athlete in college, participating in both basketball and football. As a junior for the 1965-1966 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team, he was named SEC Confederate Basketball Player of the Year .

He was selected by the San Diego Rockets in the 1st round of the 1967 NBA Draft, and was also drafted by the Dallas Cowboys as the Receiver in the 11th round of the 1967 NFL Draft. He joined the Rockets and was later selected by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 1970 NBA Draft, but was immediately sold to the Los Angeles Lakers , whom he helped in the 1972 NBA Championship , coming out on substitutions in games. He retired after the NBA season 1975 - 1976, as the champion of the Western Conference , playing in the Phoenix Sans .

Riley ended his playing career in the NBA, gaining an average of 7.4 points per game, and the percentage ratio between productive throws and the total number of completed throws was 41.4% ^[3] .

Los Angeles Lakers

Riley returned to the NBA in 1977 as a TV presenter for the Lakers. In the 1979–1980 season, when the team’s head coach, Jack McKinney , was severely injured during the accident, the assistant coach, Paul Westhead , took over the team’s head coach. Then Riley moved from the broadcast booth to the bench as one of Westhead's assistant coaches. Together with rookie quarterback Magic Johnson and longtime star Karim Abdul-Jabbar , the Lakers won the 1980 NBA Finals by defeating Philadelphia in six games. Thus, coaching the team for only one year, Westhead and Riley got the championship rings. However, the following year, the team lost to the Houston Rockets playoffs, led by Moses Malone .

After six games in the 1981–1982 season. Magic Johnson said he would like to be exchanged because he was unhappy with Westhead 's coaching approach. Soon after, the Lakers owner, Jerry Bass , fired Westhead. At a subsequent press conference with Jerry West , Bass named West as head coach. West, however, refused, and Bass awkwardly tried to call West an “offensive captain,” and then called West and Riley coaches. ^[4] During a press conference, West made it clear that he would only help Riley, and that Riley would be the head coach ^[5] . After that, Riley was a temporary head coach until his status became permanent. Riley opened the Showtime era at the Lakers with superstars Johnson and Abdul-Jabbar. Riley became a celebrity and an icon of style, wearing Armani costumes and combed back hair that complemented the team’s Hollywood image ^[6] .

Riley led the Lakers to four NBA finals in a row. He earned his first title in the first season, playing against Philadelphia Seventi Sixer. Both teams made it to the finals the following year, and this time the Lakers lost to the Philadelphia. The Lakers lost again in the 1984 Boston Celtics final in seven games. ^[7]

In 1987, Riley coached the Lakers team, which is considered one of the best teams of all time. The team played: Magic Johnson , James Worthy and Karim Abdul-Jabbar , as well as Michael Cooper , Byron Scott , AC Green , Michael Thompson and Kurt Rambis . The Lakers finished 65-17 in the regular season, third in team history. In the playoffs, they beat the Celtics in six games, and thus, Riley won his third NBA title.

One of Riley's most famous moments occurred when he guaranteed the crowd a repeat of the championship during the Lakers Championship parade in downtown Los Angeles ^[8] . Although the Lakers in 1988 did not bring as many victories in the regular season as they did in 1987 , they still won the NBA title, becoming the first team in 19 years to repeat their result. The Lakers beat the Detroit Pistons in seven 1988 NBA Finals matches, fulfilling Riley's promise. Riley’s titles with the Lakers make him one of the six people who played for the NBA championship team and then coached the same NBA team in the championship; others are George Saneski , Bill Russell , Tom Hainson , Kay C Jones and Billy Cunningham .

Although Riley no longer made any high-profile statements, his team made an attempt to win the third championship in a row in 1989 . Having successfully won the re-championship a year earlier, the term used for this new goal was called three-peat. Riley, through his corporate company Riles & Co., has made this phrase his trademark. However, in the rematch last year, the Lakers lost to the Pistons in the 1989 NBA Finals.

Riley was named the coach of the year for the first time in 1989 - 1990 , but resigned as head coach of the Lakers after they lost to the Phoenix Suns in the playoffs. At the time of his departure, Riley was the first coach in the NBA with a level of fame that has not been there since the days of Red Auerbach ^[9] .

New York Knicks

After retiring, Riley worked as a television commentator on NBC for a year and then was appointed New York Knicks head coach from the 1991-1992 season. Commentators admired Riley's ability to work with physical, intentional Nyxes, adapting his Showtime style »With the fast-growing Lakers teams in the 1980s.

Chicago Bulls easily defeated the Knicks in 1991 on their way to their first Championship. In 1992, along with Riley, Knicks faced the current champion, Bulls, in seven matches in the Eastern Conference semi-final. The Knicks physical defense against Chicago Bulls superstars , Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen during the 1992 playoffs led to a feud between Riley and the Bulls head coach, Phil Jackson , regarding refereeing and rude Knicks play style. In 1993, thanks to Riley, the Knicks achieved his best result in the regular season in the team’s history (associated with the 1969-1970 team) and Riley, in turn, received the second Coach of the Year award. The Knicks met the Bulls again in the Eastern Conference Finals, but lost in six games after winning the first two games at home. The Bulls, led by Jackson, won the final in the same season and completed the first three-peat , despite the fact that it was Riley's trademark in 1989. ^[10]

Riley returned to the NBA finals in 1994 , defeating three-time reigning champion Bulls (without Michael Jordan) in seven games during the Eastern Conference semi-finals. However, New York lost to the Houston Rockets in seven games after 3-2 in the series. During the 1994 finals , Riley became the first coach to take part in the final seventh NBA game with two teams, being with the Lakers in 1984 and 1988 . Nevertheless, he has an unfortunate difference, as he became the first (and so far the only) coach who lost the final seventh game of the NBA with two teams, losing to the Celtics in 1984.

Miami Heat

In 1995, Riley resigned by fax to become president and head coach of the Miami Heat with full control over basketball operations. This move caused some controversy, as the Heath accused the Knicks of falsification. The Knicks claimed that Riley had a year left under the contract with the Knicks ^[11] . This issue was resolved after Hit paid $ 1 million in cash to the Knicks. Both teams became their worst rivals.

Miami lost in the first round of the Chicago Bulls playoffs, coached by Phil Jackson, who finished the regular season with a record 72 wins. With the advent of Alonzo Mourning and Tim Hardway, many shifts have taken place this season.

In 1997, Heath, under the leadership of Riley, defeated his old Nyx team in a series of seven games. Having reached the finals of the Eastern Conference for the first time in the history of the franchise, they again failed to confront Jordan and the Bulls. However, Riley was selected as the Coach of the Year for the third time after leading Miami to 61-21 regulars for first place in the Atlantic Division .

Unfortunately, the playoffs of 1998 , 1999 and 2000 were a disappointment as they lost to their main rival, Knicks; the first two in the first round and the last in the second round. Riley then exchanged Brown and Jamal Mashburn for Eddie Jones in one transaction and acquired Brian Grant in another, although the team failed seriously after the team lost Alonzo Mourning during the season due to kidney disease. After finishing 50–32 in the 2000–2001 season, the Heath lost to Charlotte Hornets in the first round of the NBA playoffs. They then lost their two best players when a defender, Tim Hardway, sold to Dallas Mavericks and Anthony Mason signed a contract with Milwaukee Bucks. Partly because of these sorties, Hit finished 36–46 in 2002 - the first time the team coached by Riley did not have a winning season or did not reach the playoffs. Riley was so outraged by the hit performance that he announced that he was going to "fire himself."

After the end of the 2002–2003 season with a score of 25–57, Riley resigned as head coach and was replaced by longtime assistant Stan Van Gundy . Van Gundy and rookie Dwyane Wade , whom Riley chose in the draft, returned the Heat back to the playoffs with a score of 42–40 after starting 0–7. Riley focused on improving the team before the 2004-2005 season . One of his most important steps was the exchange of Caron Butler , Brian Grant, Lamar Odom for Shaquille O'Neill . O'Neill has just had a successful run with the Lakers and their coach, Phil Jackson , winning three consecutive championships from 2000 to 2002 and losing the 2004 final. By this time, the feud between Riley and Jackson had cooled ^[12] . Thanks to Wade and O'Neill, the Heat hit the finals of the Eastern Conference during the 2005 playoffs, although they lost to the current champions, Detroit Pistons , after a 3–2 result in the series. Wade completely missed the sixth game due to injury ^[13] .

During the 2005 offseason , it was widely debated that Riley was trying to take Van Gundy's place, now that the team was able to fight for the championship ^[14] . Indeed, Van Gundy resigned from his post as head coach on December 12, 2005 , having spent only 21 games in a season, citing the need to spend more time with his family, and Riley resumed coaching as a team ^[15] . The Heat team, led by Riley, beat the Detroit Pistons in the 2006 Eastern Conference Finals, June 2, 2006 , and for the first time the Miami Heat reached the final. After the sixth game, Riley said he had put together one suit, one shirt and one tie for a trip to Dallas. It was Riley’s fifth championship as head coach and his first with a team that was not the Lakers. Riley became one of two NBA coaches who led three teams to the NBA Finals, the other was Alex Hannum . He joined Hannum and Phil Jackson as the only head coaches that led the two teams to the NBA titles. He also became the only coach to replace the coach twice in the middle of the season and put this team on the NBA title ^[16] .

Referring to problems with the hip and knee, Riley took a leave from coaching from January 3, 2007 to February 19, 2007 . Assistant Coach, Ron Rothstein, has taken on temporary duties. The hit ended season 44-38 and lost to the Chicago Bulls in the first round of the playoffs; the first reigning champions to lose in the first round since 1957 ^[17] .

The following season, “Hit” finished with a result of 15-67. The team lost several of its players due to long-term injuries, and the disgruntled Shaquille O'Neal was sold in the middle of the season. Two years after winning the championship, they finished with one of the worst results of all time ^[18] . On April 28, 2008, Riley announced that he would step down as a hit coach. The former assistant, Eric Spoelstra , was declared his successor. Riley remains president of the team ^[19] . Despite the fact that Jaime nominally had a general manager for most of Riley’s tenure as president of the team, Riley had the last word on basketball since his arrival in Miami. Despite the fact that “Hit” nominally had a general manager for most of Riley’s tenure as president of the team, it was Riley who had the final say on the basketball part since he arrived in Miami.

As president, Riley acquired LeBron James and Chris Bosch to form the Big Three with Dwayne Wade . In 2012, the “Hit” won the Oklahoma City Thunder to present Riley the first victory in the championship, exclusively as a leader. "Hit" repeated the feat in 2013 , defeating the San Antonio Spurs .

Outside of basketball, Riley turned into a cult figure. It is born from the signature image of Riley, a hairstyle that is often called gangster or mafia, as the hair is combed back and its flawless tan.

In 1988, Riley published a book called Showtime: Inside the Breakthrough Season , a New York Times bestseller in which he shared the Lakers' successful victory at the 1987 NBA Championship . One of the phrases Riley coined in the book was “the disease of more ”, stating that “success is often the first step to disaster” and that reigning champions will often fail next season because every player who returns wants more game time , score more per game and more money.

Riley's name and similarities were used for the 1990 Sega Genesis video game, Pat Riley Basketball.

In 1993 , coaching the New York Knicks , Riley published her second New York Times bestseller entitled Winner Inside: A Life Plan for Team Players. Focused on business readers and basketball enthusiasts, he is a lesson in teamwork and leadership from each season of Riley, as a coach at that time. Byron Lorsen, whom Riley hailed as "... a real Showtime Warrior," is a co-author of both of Riley's books.

Riley is known for his friendship with Giorgio Armani and preferred to wear Armani suits during basketball games. Riley is also an off-season motivational speaker. Riley earns over $ 50,000 for each performance.

Riley and his wife, Chris, have two children: James Riley and Elizabeth Riley. Riley is a practicing Catholic.

On February 27, 2007, Miami Heat was honored to visit the White House for the 2005–2006 NBA Championship. During the ceremony, Riley presented George Bush with a T-shirt and then announced: “I voted for this person. If you don’t vote, you don’t count. ” After the ceremony, Riley was interviewed by reporters about the political nature of his comments. In response, he said: “I am pro-American, pro-democrat, I am pro-government. I follow my boss. He is my boss. ” ^[20]

Riley and his wife are fans of Bruce Springsteen . In his entry in 2008 at the Basketball Hall of Fame , he ended his speech with a quote from Springsteen's song “Back in Your Arms Again”.

• NBA.com Coaches - Pat Riley
• Pat Riley at washingtonspeakers.com
• Statistics on the website Basketball-Reference.com (English)
• Statistics at NBA.com