A coach who left his mark on NBA history for a long time: Who is Pat Riley?

I've been watching the documentary "Legacy" on Disney Plus for a while. One of the heroes of the legendary Los Angeles Lakers in the first five episodes is coach Pat Riley. The "Showtime" Lakers, which Riley founded in the 1980s, were multiple NBA champions with Magic Johnson and Abdul-Jabbar. More than 30 years have passed, and today 78-year-old Riley is still in the NBA and in a key role. President of the NBA finalist Miami Heat. Before that, Riley made 18 finals as a player, assistant coach, coach, and president. He won nine of them. He built and broke teams many times in the post-Lakers years, but he always managed to stay close to the top. I don't think there is another name that has left its mark on NBA history for so long.

Patrick James Riley (born March 20, 1945) is an American professional basketball executive, former coach, and former player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has been the team president of the Miami Heat since 1995, and he also served as the team's head coach from 1995 to 2003 and again from 2005 to 2008. Often referred to as "The Godfather", Riley is regarded as one of the greatest NBA figures of all time both as a coach and executive. 

When it comes to NBA, superstars, floating dunks, players' sneakers, and breaking records always come to mind. So what does the NBA mean? “National Basketball Association”. OK, that much we know. Anyone who Googles 'NBA' will encounter this description. So what does it really mean? In the NBA, 'everything' is winning and the rest is details. It's about doing anything to win. Ambition, passion, love, vision, innovation, planning, organization... If we could collect this recipe book in one body, would it be any other than Pat Riley's body? He is someone who carries the spirit of the NBA in everything.

Patrick James Riley. That's his real name. He was born on March 20, 1945, in the Schenectady neighborhood of New York. Pat Riley, who loves playing basketball, played both basketball and American football teams during his college years in Kentucky. Actually, I do not write a biography, nor do I prefer to write. Everyone's biography is already published on every site on the internet. But there is a reason why I gave this information. Pat Riley has always created teams that play hard during his coaching years, both during his New York Knicks years and his Miami Heat years. Even when basketball does not build its structure on hardness, it has instilled a lot of culture in its players to be able to play contact games and stay mentally tough. When I was the coach of the famous “Showtime Lakers” in the 80s, I remembered the speeches he gave to his players during a break on the side of the field during the game. In 1988, 'Bad Boys' was an NBA Finals played with the Detroit Pistons.

“Stay tough and never surrender. This is what winning is all about,” he said.

No one has noted these words as the famous Pat Riley words and written them in concise words books or websites. But I always make a note of such subtleties in the details of the flowing life in a corner of my mind. I was fortunate to remember and use it somewhere.

Consider a man; He's been a player, coach, and president in the NBA. He has had dark days at all three levels and has seen the bottom and the championships. Pat Riley is a player, coach, and president of the NBA who has lived and won championships. Before the heads of the teams in the NBA, there are the owners of the teams, namely their bosses. But even though Pat Riley is not the owner of the Miami Heat, we can say that he is the main boss. I'm sure he even knows how much the gas bill is paid in Miami's arena.

There are very famous questions and discussions. These will continue to be discussed and debated. Let's delve a little into these gray areas and sharpen the contrast of the color a bit.

Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time, we're not arguing that. My definition is the man sitting in the middle of Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper" as a basketball metaphor. While the greatest players in NBA history are listed after Jordan's name, some immediately place Magic Johnson in second or third place, and some even lower. Because there is this argument: The two main pieces of “Showtime Lakers” created by Pat Riley were Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. This Lakers team dominated the 80s. They played finals almost every year. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar made the Milwaukee Bucks champions before joining the Lakers. Together with Johnson, they won 8 NBA Finals and 5 championships in the 80s. In 1989, Kareem left basketball and Magic Johnson played for 3 more seasons. There is an argument that goes like this: “Magic Johnson didn't win a championship without Kareem.” This is a correct but incomplete argument in the first place. The argument forgotten in detail is: “Magic Johnson couldn't win a championship without Pat Riley.”

Pat Riley coached the New York Knicks after the Lakers and brought the Knicks back into the championship race years later. He saw the final but did not see the championship. It can't be said that Michael Jordan's being at the same conference at the time when he was at his best has no effect. Because of Jordan, many people didn't deserve a championship anyway.

After New York, he took over the Miami Heat. In fact, the Miami Heat was a new organization founded in 1988. The Miami Heat wasn't even on the map until Pat Riley arrived. When we say “it was not on the map”, it is also used in the sporting culture to mean “it was not in the accounts” or “it was not in the accounts”. So if you think about where the Miami Heat are today, you'll understand what a great basketball man Pat Riley is. Even just by looking at the Miami Heat piece.

Pat Riley's biggest move in moving the Miami Heat from a "good team" to an "elite team" was to bring in Shaquille O'Neal from the Lakers in the summer of 2004. The Miami Heat has suddenly become the league's favorite, center of attention team. Riley, who caught Dwyane Wade in the 2003 draft, brought the Miami Heat their first championship in 2006, along with Shaq.

In the summer of 2010, he made the move that would break all the rules. The most important player of the 2000s was Kobe Bryant. We know that, yes. But it was obvious that LeBron James would be the most important player of the 2010s, and we could clearly see the signs of this in 2008 and 2009. The Miami Heat blew things up, holding Dwyane Wade and bringing in LeBron James and another elite player in the league, Chris Bosh. No one believed it could be real until we saw all three of them together at the same rink, at a 'welcome' party. The result is 4 NBA Finals and 2 championships in a row.

What is it like to take the editor in the video room and coach the Miami Heat? Yes, we are talking about Erik Spoelstra. Who can do this but Pat Riley? Because he knows the spirit of basketball, the NBA. He knows basketball, most of all. His talent is someone capable of noticing and recognizing from 200 meters.

Some are now saying, “There is a person named Phil Jackson, what are you talking about?” he may say. Phil Jackson may be the most title-winning coach in NBA history. But Phil Jackson did not change his destiny by starting a community from scratch throughout his career. Scottie Pippen and Michael Jordan were with the Bulls before Phil Jackson came along. Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant were playing for the Lakers before Phil Jackson came along. The Lakers were the Lakers before Phil Jackson came along. That's what Phil Jackson tried as president of the New York Knicks. He failed. You can be a very good coach. Phil Jackson is a great “winner” as a coach. But changing the fate of a city, changing the fate of a team or a community is not like carrying 15 players to the championship. Which we saw during Phil Jackson's presidency with the New York Knicks. The reason we tell you this is to understand and explain well how great things Pat Riley has accomplished at every level.