{"id":23508,"date":"2019-07-11T19:50:20","date_gmt":"2019-07-11T23:50:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lwosonnba.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/?p=23508"},"modified":"2019-07-11T19:50:20","modified_gmt":"2019-07-11T23:50:20","slug":"pat-riley-the-last-stand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2019\/07\/11\/pat-riley-the-last-stand\/","title":{"rendered":"Pat Riley: The Last Stand"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pat Riley<\/a> is one of the most influential basketball figures of all time. Despite his legendary status, a fork in the road appears at the latter stage of his career.<\/p>\n

The Last Stand for Pat Riley<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Riley, a hardened man with slicked-back hair and an equally sharp tongue, didn’t hold much back while publicly addressing the Miami Heat’s<\/a> offseason dilemmas over five years ago.<\/p>\n

“You wanna trend something? I’m pissed get it out there”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Riley opened up his 41-minute press conference<\/a> with an honest admission. However, the thoughts which followed his light bang of the table weren’t met by an overly emotional rant; on the contrary, it was comments of a firm resolve knowing everything will be ok.<\/p>\n

When Riley speaks, the world listens.<\/p>\n

The man has seen enough basketball to educate the masses on the generational differences in the NBA. He knows all about the continual evolution of the game. In the genesis of his head coaching career, he led the “Showtime” Los Angeles Lakers<\/a>, a team built of flash and little grit. Ironically, in the ’90s, Riley’s real personality shined brightest on the rugged and slow-paced New York Knicks<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The gentleman with the nice suits and made-men haircut let it be known winning was his sole mission, no matter what his surroundings were.<\/p>\n

Riley is a proud man, rightfully so. The challenge Riley made to LeBron James<\/a><\/strong> in 2014 would prove costly. The hard-nosed, no-nonsense approach to recruiting James stands the time as the boldest decision from a front office.<\/p>\n

In the 41-minute media confessional, he discussed the past four seasons of the Miami Heat “Heatles” era. Perhaps, it was in that moment, he lost LeBron and consequently, the annual championship relevancy, albeit in a valiant effort. Pride is a double-edged sword.<\/p>\n

Jimmy Butler, the On-Court Extension of Pat Riley<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Five years later and the Godfather Pat Riley finally secured another star. Although not on the same level as James nor Dwyane Wade<\/strong><\/a>, Jimmy Butler<\/strong><\/a> is a star-level figure. Miami wasn’t a team with ample cap space to throw at max-level players this summer. However, the case was similar in 2010, the year of the infamous “The Decision”. Riley is a man of conviction.<\/p>\n

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Jimmy Butler deal is complete with Heat — with Clippers added as a fourth-team in trade that also includes Philadelphia and Portland, league sources tell @ZachLowe_NBA<\/a> and me.<\/p>\n

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 1, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n