Last week, Pat Riley challenged his three superstars his two superstars LeBron James to stay in Miami and see through their his effort to win not 6, not 7, not 8 championships… Riley turned a lot of heads last week when he began his press conference with one simple statement: “I’m pissed.”
While the basketball world spins on its axis waiting to see where not only James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh land, Riley alluded to the character that is required to win multiple championships at the NBA level. “This stuff is hard,” he explained, “and you got to stay together, if you’ve got the guts. And you don’t find the first door and run out of it.”
Wow! Tough talk. Especially from a legend like Pat Riley. He doesn’t know the meaning of quit. This guy’s the next Jimmy Volvano! He never gives up! No matter how tough things get…
… Or maybe he does. All the time. Simply stated, I’m not buying the bullshit Riley’s selling.
Let’s start in 1991. After a year of working on NBA on NBC, Riley returned to the sidelines with the New York Knicks. Things started off great as Riley’s Knicks adapted a hard-nosed, physical style of play that helped them push the Chicago Bulls to seven games in the 1991/92 Eastern Conference Finals. In 1992/93, Riley led NYK to their best regular season record in team history (60 wins, tied with 1969/70 Knicks) but again couldn’t get past the Bulls in the Eastern Conference Finals, this time losing in six games. Entering the 1994/95 season, after Michael Jordan retired to play baseball, one would have to think that this was the Knicks’ best chance to advance to the Finals. However, after defeating the Bulls in the Eastern Conference Finals that year, the Knicks advanced to the Finals only to lose to the Houston Rockets in seven games.
So the Knicks were one game away from a NBA championship—which would’ve been the franchise’s third chip (their first since 1973). Note: one game away from an NBA championship appears to be FAR closer than the Heat came this year losing their series 3-1 and by an NBA Finals record 14.5-point margin of victory. Nonetheless, Riley began to question his role with the team and his future in New York. I have to assume that in 1994, Riley had yet to learn the life lessons he so hypocritically pontificated last week in Miami. There were no guts and there certainly wasn’t any togetherness in New York, but there was a door and Riley ran through it.
“For the last two years,” Riley said, “I had consistently and repeatedly expressed to Knick management my desire and need to be charged with ultimate responsibility for all significant aspects of the ballclub. During this time, I had tried my best to reach an agreement with management on these issues. Unhappily, the gap between us could not be bridged.” He continued, “I do not believe that any team can realize its potential when its head coach, the person most intimately involved with the players, cannot make final, critical decisions on matters bearing directly and intensely on the team, its performance and its future.”
Knicks President Dave Checketts and General Manager Ernie Grunfeld responded by stating, “We didn’t make any trades that Pat didn’t want. He was in favor of every player that’s on this roster.”
Checketts added, “If anything, he was resentful I couldn’t deliver to him ownership and everything he was seeking. We delivered an offer to him that we thought was extraordinary.” Newsday reported that Riley at one point asked for $50 million over five years, plus 25% ownership of the team, and the Knicks countered with a five-year, $25-million offer.
For the record, I don’t begrudge anyone for attempting to better their own situation, but there is a certain way to go about things as we saw last week when Jason Kidd was heavily criticized for the way he bullied his way out of Brooklyn for more power in Milwaukee. And Riley didn’t show any more professionalism than Kidd did when he exited New York. Riley, an alleged class act, informed the Knicks of his resignation via fax.
In fact, Riley’s move from New York to Miami was so suspicious that it triggered an investigation was so shady and controversial that it lead to an investigation into tampering. Eventually the two teams agreed that the Heat would have to compensate the Knicks with a first round pick and $1 million in cash.
So let’s take a deeper look into the hypocrisy Riley spewed last week when he challenged LeBron and company to stay in Miami and see through HIS vision. As I stated earlier, Riley left a team that was on the doorstep of an NBA championship with New York. Even from the most optimistic perspective, the Heat aren’t on any doorsteps. At best, they’re on the block, but a few houses down. LeBron’s gonna need some new roommates to bring another chip home.
In 2010, when Bosh and James decided to join Wade in Miami, they signed similar cap-friendly deals that would allow them all to opt out in the summer of 2014. They all took less money and potentially less years in favor of having more control of their career paths four years later. In turn, Riley’s assertion that if any of the Big Three moved onto greener pastures, it could be viewed as quitting or “running for the door” holds no weight. Bosh, James, and Wade lived up to their contractual agreements, something Riley failed to do in New York. OK, so Riley quit on the Knicks. Twenty years later, he railed on his three stars challenging them not to be quitters. Seems hypocritical, but perhaps the Knicks’ situation was an isolated incident. I doubt Riley ever quit before (or after) on a team.
After his 1989/90 season with Los Angeles, despite winning Coach of the Year, Riley quit on the Lakers after they were unceremoniously ousted by the Phoenix Suns in the Conference Semifinals. By the end of season, many players including Magic Johnson and James Worthy, had spoken to management about Riley’s long mentally fatiguing practices as well as his refusal to listen to constructive criticism. Riley decided enough was enough, and despite the two years remaining on his deal, Riley ran for the door. Guts are an afterthought; doors are now the best options. 
After a disappointing 2003/04 season with the Miami Heat, Riley was again looking for an out. Easily enough, with Riley now acting as both head coach and general manager of the team, he decided to step down as head coach and was succeeded by assistant Stan Van Gundy. However, after drafting Dwyane Wade in 2003 and adding Shaquille O’Neal in 2004, the seemingly remote possibility of winning a championship began to become more realistic. That’s when the opportunist gears in Riley’s head started to once again grind. Despite Van Gundy’s insistence that he quit in the middle of the 2005/06 season to spend time with his family, it was widely speculated that the roster simply got too good, and the urge to return to his former coaching glory was too great.
In his book, “Shaq Uncut: My Story” with Jackie MacMullan, Shaquille O’Neal defended himself against the allegation that he had forced Stan Van out by saying that it was all Riley’s decision. “Stan got fired because Pat wanted to take over, not because I wanted him out,” he said.” I had no control over it — not a smidgen of control. We all kind of knew it was coming because Pat and Stan were always arguing. Pat would come down and tell Stan how to do something and Stan would want to do it his own way, and that was a fine game plan if you wanted to get yourself fired.”
So in conclusion, Pat Riley should be allowed to talk about quitting. He has proven to be an expert in the field and could probably offer some good advice. Mike D’Antoni should take notes. But when it comes to not quitting, or honoring a contract, or anything else related to professionalism, Pat Riley’s opinions hold no weight.
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