Pat Riley

Pat Riley

Patrick James Riley is an American professional basketball executive and a former coach and player in the National Basketball Association. He 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. Riley has won five NBA championships as a coach, including four with the LA Lakers during their Showtime era in the 1980s. He also won the 2010 NBA title with the New York Knicks and the 2011 NBA championship with the San Antonio Spurs. In 1996, he was named one of the 10 Greatest Coaches in NBA history.

About Pat Riley in brief

Summary Pat RileyPatrick James Riley is an American professional basketball executive and a former coach and player in the National Basketball Association. 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. He 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. In 1996, he was named one of the 10 Greatest Coaches in NBA history. Riley most recently won the 2012 and 2013 NBA championships with the Heat as their team president. He was named NBA Coach of the Year three times and was head coach of an NBA All-Star Game team nine times. He played for the Los Angeles Lakers’ championship team in 1972. He retired after the 1975–76 NBA season as a member of the Western Conference champion Phoenix Suns. His father, Leon Riley, played 22 seasons of minor league baseball as an outfielder and first baseman, and appeared in four games for the 1944 Philadelphia Phillies. Riley played basketball for Linton High School in Schenectady, New York under head coach Walt Przybylo and his assistants Bill Rapavy and Ed Catino. Riley was a versatile athlete in college, participating in both basketball and football. As a junior on the 1965–66 Kentucky Wildcats men’s basketball team he wasnamed First Team All-SEC, All-NCAA Tournament Team, NCAA Regional Player of the year and AP Third Team all-American, leading the Wildcats to the 1966 NCAA title game.

Riley finished his NBA playing career with a 7. 4 points per game scoring average and a field-goal percentage of 41. 4%. Riley returned to the NBA in 1977 as a broadcaster for the Lakers. He then moved from the broadcast booth to the bench as one of Westhead’s assistant coaches. In 1991, Riley called it, \”One of the greatest games in the history of SchenECTady basketball. Riley then became the interim head coach until his permanent appointment as head coach in 2000. Riley has won five NBA championships as a coach, including four with the LA Lakers during their Showtime era in the 1980s and one with theHeat in 2006. He received the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award from the NBA Coaches Association on June 20, 2012. The award is given to the person who has coached the most NBA championships in the last 20 years. Riley is also the only person to have won the NBA title in three different conferences. He also won the 2010 NBA title with the New York Knicks and the 2011 NBA championship with the San Antonio Spurs. Riley’s son, James Riley, is a professional basketball player. He currently plays for the San Diego Rockets and was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 1st round of the 1967 NBA draft, and was also drafted as a wide receiver by the Dallas Cowboys in the 11th round ofthe 1967 NFL Draft. The Riley family has three children.