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Pat Riley is one of the biggest legends in NBA history. Riley played nine seasons in the NBA after being a college star at the University of Kentucky. He won an NBA championship with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1972 and was a key reserve on that team. After joining the Lakers broadcast team in 1977, Riley ultimately found his way to the Lakers coaching staff in 1979 when he won a championship as an assistant coach on Paul Westhead’s staff in Magic Johnson’s rookie season.
In the 1981-82 season, Westhead was fired and the Lakers tried a co-coaches strategy with Jerry West and Riley, before Riley ended up taking the reigns as interim head coach to be made permanent. That started the legacy of Riley with the Lakers where he won four NBA championships as head coach, five total as part of the coaching staff. Magic Johnson, the point guard for those Lakers teams, recently commented about what Pat Riley brought to the Lakers as their head coach.
Magic Johnson on Pat Riley’s Coaching
In a recent appearance on Shannon Sharpe’s, ‘Club Shay Shay’ podcast, Johnson spoke about how special those Lakers teams were and about Riley being at the helm.
“We can score inside, outside and on the break, that’s hard to defend,” Johnson said. And, we had the coach because Pat Riley is to me the best coach that’s ever lived, but he could make in-game adjustments that were critical and also he motivated you. So this man could take us and we could play against anybody and win.”
Johnson, also commented about where those teams stand in NBA history.
“We’re definitely one of the greatest teams ever because we had everything, we could do everything,” Johnson said. “When you got a guy like Kareem that can dominate inside, right? James Worthy, oh man, and then you got the shooters in Byron Scott, Michael Cooper, and we had the defensive mentality as well. We can defend you and then get out and run,” Johnson said.
Udonis Haslem on ‘Godfather’ Pat Riley
Riley’s legacy continued beyond the Lakers and as head coach of the New York Knicks and Miami Heat. He also made the step to being an executive with the Heat, a role he continues to thrive in. Riley’s dominance as a basketball mind has coined him the nickname of the ‘Godfather.’ Heat star Udonis Haslem spoke about how intimidated he was by Riley when he first came to Miami.
“Pat Riley, the symbol, you probably wanna look at some mob shit,” Haslem said. “I ain’t never been afraid of no man but I think the first two years with the Miami Heat I didn’t speak to Pat. It was just uncomfortable, the slicked back hair, the pants and shoes. I watched Godfather. I seen all that shit. I think the first couple of years, it was just uncomfortable. Pat Riley, the image, I think people hit the nail on the head. He’s just f*cking Godfather.”
Haslem got over that uncomfortable feeling and found himself finding similarities between him and the legendary Heat team president.
“Pat Riley, the man is a winner, like myself, regardless of what situation he’s been put in,” Haslem said. “He wasn’t the greatest basketball player. He wasn’t obviously the greatest coach the way the situation started out … He maximized that opportunity. The sky was the limit.”
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