Grateful Riley Voted into the Hall of Fame
By Israel Gutierrez, The Miami Herald
Apr. 7–SAN ANTONIO — Pat Riley stood on the stage in the Marriott Riverwalk ballroom with his 2008 Hall of Fame jersey in his hands, a microphone in front of him, giants of the sport of basketball surrounding him and a giant grin on his face.
He knew this Hall of Fame class would be one of the most memorable ever.
Because his wife, Chris, told him so.
‘She said, ‘Just think, if Dick Vitale gets in this year, this is going to be the greatest class — unbelievable! — of all time,’ ” Riley said, drawing a laugh from those gathered to watch the announcement of the 2008 Naismith Hall of Fame class. “We will be promoted for ever and ever.”
Vitale was among the seven legends who will be inducted in the Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass., on Sept. 5, joining Riley, Patrick Ewing, Hakeem Olajuwon, Adrian Dantley, former Immaculata University head coach Cathy Rush and Detroit Pistons owner Bill Davidson, the only one of the group who was unable to attend Monday’s announcement.
Riley ranks third all-time in NBA coaching victories with 1,208, won four championships with the Lakers as a head coach and one with the Heat, and has two more championship rings as an assistant coach and a player.
He arrived in San Antonio on Friday evening, and while most figured the coach was a shoo-in to be selected to the Hall in this, his first year of eligibility, he said he wasn’t sure until he received the official phone call this past weekend.
“You never know,” said Riley, in town with his wife. “I was talking to Adrian Dantley and he was telling me that he actually ran away from his phone yesterday because this was the seventh time he has been nominated,” Riley said. “He has had six calls and they said no.
“It was never a given to me. The day I got the call, it was pretty emotional.”
What was he doing when he got the call? What he has done far too often this season: examining video evidence of yet another Heat loss.
“I was just looking at [Hornets center] Tyson Chandler dunk for the seventh time on our team from the night before,” Riley said. “He said, ‘I got good news for you.’
“I don’t know what [the emotion] was. It wasn’t joy, it wasn’t sadness. It was just an absolutely very emotional, wonderful call.
“Because I’m 63, they’re a lot different than they would’ve been when I was 35. There’s a lot more going on inside me.”
Riley credited his 1980s Los Angeles Lakers teams for propelling him to this point in his career, and reiterated the overwhelming sense of humility he has gained over the past several years.
“It wasn’t until I got older that I realized it wasn’t me,” Riley said, “I’ve always had great players.”
He also acknowledged an added appreciation for his successful past now that he is suffering through this dreadful 13-64 season.
“[Memphis coach] John Calipari has a chance to win his 39th game [Monday night], and it would be a historical number,” Riley said. “I lost my 64th [Sunday] night and I got elected to the Hall of Fame. That tells you how fair the Hall of Fame could be in terms of body of work. It’s mind-boggling from that standpoint.”
Being inducted in the same class as Ewing, who Riley coached in New York, and Olajuwon, whose Rockets team beat Riley and the Knicks in the 1994 NBA Finals, made Riley feel “comfortable.” Ewing said he enjoyed the company as well.
“Pat Riley is an outstanding coach,” said Ewing, who is now an assistant coach with former Heat coach Stan Van Gundy in Orlando. “He’s paid his dues. He won championships in L.A. and won a championship in Miami. We came close in New York under his reign. He’s one of the best coaches that I’ve had, and I respect him, I admire him and I look up to him.
“I think he’s a great leader — his leadership, his knowledge of the game, his work ethic. You look at any coaches that worked for him, you see the success they had. Jeff Van Gundy and Stan Van Gundy to name a couple. He’s a remarkable man.”
After the announcement ceremony, Riley sat at a table in a room filled with media and the other members of the Hall of Fame class.
Almost an hour later, Riley was the last to leave the room, having entertained a gathering of about 10 media members for the final 20 minutes or so.
He had an unlimited number of memories to relive, telling all of them with the kind of charisma that makes him such a successful public speaker.
“The No. 1 memory is the press conference when I was given the interim head coaching job when Jerry Buss sort of pushed me through the door,” Riley said. “I never felt like I belonged there. I was an interim head coach, and we won 12 out of 14 games, and they kept me. And then we won a championship, and here I am 25 years later.”
As for how much longer Riley will stay in the profession, he wouldn’t say. All the reminiscing he did on Monday certainly provided him with a sense of nostalgia.
But he said he has been thinking about the end for a while now. And the now-Hall of Fame coach sounds like a man whose career is quickly coming to a close.
“I think the old saying is, when you come to a fork in the road, you take it,” Riley said. “You make a decision on that. All of you people who have covered professional basketball know how grueling it is. It’s not as glamorous as people think. You play 90 to 100 games a year, it’s a forever thing. You’re locked into the schedule from October until June that you could never get away from. What that does is it takes away your freedom to live another life, if you wanted to.
“Chris and I, the only thing we’ve ever known were nine-month calendars and three-month quick vacations. That’s been going on for 40 years. So if there’s anything that I’ve wanted to experience more than anything else, it’s absolute freedom from that. I don’t know what it’s like. But I think shortly I’ll find out.”
ANOTHER HONOR: Alonzo Mourning was nominated as a finalist for the Mannie Jackson Basketball’s Human Spirit Award. The award was established a year ago, with the first recipient being Dikembe Mutombo, and it goes to a person who has “found the game of basketball a contributing aspect to their personal growth and accomplishment, a place to develop an understanding of others, and an avenue that helped shape that individual’s growth into a recognized visionary leader in the greater community in which they serve.”
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