Pat Riley has been involved in some way or the other with the NBA for more than 50 years at this point and has had an almost unprecedented level of success in that time.
Riley started off as a player back in 1967 and is currently the team president for the Miami Heat, a title he has held since 1995. With the Heat making it to the NBA Finals this year, Riley will be part of the Finals for the 19th time in his career. His 19 trips account for 25% of all the Finals in league history, which is astonishing.
Let’s break down all of Riley’s Finals appearances.
– 3x as NBA Player (1972, 1973, 1976)
– 1x as Assistant Coach (1980)
– 9x as Head Coach (1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1994, 2006)
– 6x as Executive (2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2020, 2023)
Riley made two NBA Finals as a player with the Los Angeles Lakers, winning the title in 1972. His last season in the NBA with the Phoenix Suns also saw him headed to the Finals, where they lost to the Boston Celtics.
Riley then became an assistant coach on the Lakers in 1979 and won the title in his very first season. He then took over as the head coach in 1981 and ushered in the ‘Showtime’ era, winning four championships in his first seven seasons.
He would part ways with the Lakers in 1990 and a year later, became head coach for the New York Knicks. He led the Knicks to the Finals in 1994, where they lost to the Houston Rockets in seven games. Riley would then leave the Knicks for the Heat in 1995 where he became the head coach as well as team president.
Riley wasn’t able to instantly lead the Heat to the Finals, however, and stepped down as head coach in 2003. He, however, resumed that role in the 2005-06 season and led the Heat to their first-ever championship. He stepped down once again as head coach in 2008 and has been focusing on his duties as an executive since.
He then oversaw the Big 3 era in Miami, as LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh took the Heat to four straight Finals from 2011 to 2014, winning it all in 2012 and 2013. There were some down years after the stars departed, but Riley rebuilt the team, and they made the Finals in 2020, where they lost to the Lakers.
Jimmy Butler Had Promised Pat Riley The Heat Would Win Him His 10th Championship
Riley can’t keep going forever, of course, and having turned 78 years old in March this year, the end isn’t too far away. It was reported last year that he was desperate to win one more title before retiring and for much of this season, it didn’t seem like 2023 was going to be the year that Riley won another one.
Jimmy Butler though had promised him earlier this season that the Heat would win him his 10th championship and Butler has backed it up by leading Miami to the Finals. They are four wins away now and maybe if they do triumph, Riley will decide that time has come for him to walk away.
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