Pat Riley is infamous for being a no-nonsense character and the only thing he cares about is winning championships. Riley is a serial winner too and has had remarkable success as both a coach as well as an executive. He won 5 championships as a coach before becoming team president for good for the Miami Heat, where he has overseen 5 trips to the Finals, which have resulted in 2 championships.
They almost made it back to the NBA Finals this past season, as they took the Boston Celtics to 7 games in the Eastern Conference Finals before agonizingly falling short at the end. It was a blow to Riley who desperately wants to win a title before retiring and over the years; he has made a lot of moves in the hope of getting his hands on the Larry O’Brien trophy.
Kyle Lowry Responds To Pat Riley After He Questioned His Conditioning
Kyle Lowry was the biggest addition last season as the Heat looked to strengthen their roster and while they made it to the Conference Finals, it wasn’t because of Lowry’s excellent play. He had a down year of sorts and struggled massively in the playoffs due to some injury concerns, which led to Jimmy Butler having to carry a bigger load on offense. Riley was somewhat critical of Lowry after their season ended, as he wanted him to be in better shape and said it was something that will be addressed. Lowry was recently asked about Riley’s criticism of him and he brushed it off.
via Miami Herald:
“I didn’t even hear the comments,” Lowry said Monday of Riley’s public challenge in June. “Someone else told me about ‘em.” And what did he think about those comments? “It’s whatever. Honestly, he has his opinion. Right? Everyone has their opinion and it doesn’t do anything for me. All I do is motivate myself, I always motivate myself.”
He made clear that he didn’t do anything different this offseason: “No. I spent my summer doing everything I usually do every single summer. I don’t change what I do. I go out there and create my own environment and come back and do my jobs at the highest level.”
Lowry clearly doesn’t care too much about what Riley thinks, and he is just going to do what he has always done, as it has worked for him so far in his career. We would love to be a fly on the wall when these two do end up having a conversation, as neither is the type to back down.
The Heat will be hoping that Lowry can stay healthy despite not changing his way of doing things, as they need him to step up after their failed pursuits of Kevin Durant and Donovan Mitchell this offseason.
