Pat Riley is one of the few coaches in NBA history to achieve superstar status.
Pat Riley, who played alongside players like Gregg Popovich and Phil Jackson, was always known for running a strict team, and as a player under Riley, discipline was paramount. As early as 1994, Riley was linked to the New York Knicks as head coach. During a regular season game, one of the Knicks players, Charles Smith, entered the locker room in a suit because he was listed as “out” due to knee arthritis.
Chris Herring, now a writer at Sports Illustrated, was a beat writer for the Knicks in the ’90s and witnessed the exchange between Riley and Smith.This little exchange represents the type of coaching philosophy Riley embraces.
Even though Riley looked and dressed like an “Armani man”, nothing about the crew chief was hip, as he believed everything was “earned” with blood, sweat and tears.With many teams, like the Spurs and Clippers, engaging in load management, Riley and the Heat still practice the old-school way of doing things.
Many recent players, like Bam Adebayo, have spoken about how the Heat train hard every day, often so hard that they need proper padding and protection to ensure players don’t suffer season-ending injuries.Riley is at the helm of the Miami Heat and has undoubtedly redefined their culture, maintaining the same mentality many years later.
