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Q. How much was Magic freelancing the key to success of that team, the Showtime? Byron Scott: I think every opportunity that he got to kind of go off script of things that were supposed to be playing because of the way that opponents played us, it was probably 75 percent of the time. As great a coach as Pat Riley was, Magic, I still say to this day the greatest point guard I've ever seen. 

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Pat Riley and other members of that 1965-66 squad, known affectionately as "Rupp's Runts," were recognized during halftime of Saturday's game versus Mississippi State at Rupp Arena. "One of the greatest experiences I've ever had was to be here in Lexington at the University of Kentucky," said Riley, who addressed the crowd at the end of the ceremony.

Louisville Courier-Journal

UK coach Mark Pope only had one in-person experience with Riley. One he'll never forget. "We were finishing shootaround, and Miami was coming in. I can’t remember if it was (a) home (game). I can’t even remember what team I was (on)," Pope said. "But there was somebody on the (Miami) team that I was kind of friendly with, so I was kind of talking to him. Like, we were laughing a little bit. And then I looked over, and Riles was standing in the tunnel, and he was peering at me like he just — his eyes were ripping a hole right through me. So, I got off the court right away. Like, he didn’t joke around, right? He’s been just one of the great leaders in this game, and he’s obviously represented the University of Kentucky in a magnificent way, and we’re blessed to have him."

Louisville Courier-Journal

Fullcourtpass: Pat Riley says the FIRST thing he did when Shaq got to Miami was weigh him “He was 383 at the time and about 14% body fat or more. Shaq is a big man. He's a 380-pound guy, and by the end of the year, he was at 323 and 12%. That's 60 lbs that he lost.”

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Pat Riley: When Shaq came, he wanted to come here. And I'll never forget when he came here, the first thing I did was weigh him. [laughter] He was okay. He was open to everything. And I knew Shaq had one more in him. I knew he had it in him. And he was 383 at the time and about 14% body fat or more. Shaq is a big man. He's a 380-pound guy, and by the end of the year, he was at 323 and 12%. That's 60 lbs that he lost. And a commitment that he made, it wasn't that he was grossly out of shape. He was just Shaq. He was that big. And he could still play big, but he played great. He played better that first year, and we got beat in the Eastern Conference Finals in the seventh game against Detroit, his first year here.

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Pat Riley: The league wants it. Content is king, and I have found that out that trying to keep the media out, the commissioner (Adam Silver) won't allow that. Access is what it's all about. And so players personalities today, the younger generation is just different than it was when I grew up. I grew up and I think most of us, my age, grew up at a time when our parents were harder if we had them. If we had what they would call the nuclear family. It was hard but it was different. Even if it was a stone cold house, there was love there. You had a place to go home every night and there were two parents that cared about you that provided for you that maybe they didn't love you like you wanted them to love you but it was different. And I'm not saying today's player is not that but it was harder and we understood that and so I understand this generation of players and how they want to go about living their life is different, in the music they listen to, and how they brand themselves and what they wear and how they dress.

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During a recent segment via Eurohoops, Sarunas Jasikevicius gave his opinion that coaching in the NBA is all the same style, a far cry from what he says was plenty of variety among coaches back when he played in the league. “For me the craziest thing now is when you talk about the NBA coaches, I don’t mean it in a bad way, but I used to say back when I was in the NBA. . .they all play the same,” Jasikevicius said. “There used to be these huge names in the coaching of the NBA, and they all had their own thing. Pat Riley was one thing. You learn from the triangle of Phil Jackson. Then came Mike D’Antoni with his running, spacing and a little bit smaller ball. And it was so nice. [Gregg] Popovich was playing everything through another playmaker in Tim Duncan.”

Clutch Points

The Miami Heat, for example, are often handicapped by league insiders as a place that Antetokounmpo might be willing to call his new basketball home. Pat Riley and company could offer the Bucks a yacht full of draft assets, all their best young players (All-Star Tyler Herro, promising young big man Kel’el Ware, small forward Jaime Jaquez Jr.) and salary filler (Terry Rozier, if the NBA allows it) to make the numbers work.

New York Times

Now, that brings up an interesting question, which Kellerman rightly also retorts with. The Lakers have a decades-long reputation as a superstar-friendly organization. Paul represents one of the biggest superstars the game has ever had. Is Paul arguing that should go away? Well, we don’t exactly get an answer because Paul then just kind of talked in circles about Pat Riley and the Heat and the Lakers without really committing to anything. “LeBron was always a pro. Regardless what Miami was, there was never a thing of body fat, being out of shape, none of that. None of those things. Being on time? Nothing. I don’t want to misconstrue that because sometimes that can be misconstrued. But, going back to mindset, Pat Riley’s mindset, Pat Riley had a championship mindset so the foundation, ‘It don’t matter how upset you may be, we’re doing this thing this way.’ … I would say, if there’s room to grow for the Lakers, it would be in that department. ‘Yes, we are the Lakers and let’s establish this culture. We’ve got 17 championships. Let’s establish this culture of being a championship organization and having these pillars.’ That don’t stop you from having great service and rolling out the carpet here and there and doing certain things that’s preferential. That’s fine. Everyone’s going to do that, by the way.”

Silverscreenandroll.com

Kendrick Perkins: “The organizations that whisper behind their coaches’ backs and don’t have their backs? Their teams are trash. So again, I feel like this relationship has run its course. I do think it’s time for Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies to part ways. And I think there’s only one option for Ja — only one direction he needs to go: he needs that Erik Spoelstra–Pat Riley–Miami Heat type of structure.”

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Anthony Chiang: Erik Spoelstra on Lakers honoring Pat Riley with a statue later this season: “He’s the greatest mentor I’ve had. … We’re really thrilled that he’s finally having that statue.”

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Doesn't this new system look like what the Memphis Grizzlies did last year? It sure does. Spoelstra and the Heat consulted with former Grizzlies assistant Noah LaRoche, sources told ESPN, before installing a more free-flowing, motion-based system that largely eliminates pick-and-rolls. That has led to a stunning offensive start in South Beach. The Heat are running more than any team in the league, utilizing the fewest pick-and-rolls and having gone entire quarters without Spoelstra calling a play. "You know Spo is running the polar opposite of the system that [Heat president] Pat Riley used to run, where he called every play and each play design was exact," a league executive said. "And it makes me further appreciate and respect that the organization is about the right s---. They're about exploring and teaching in Miami."

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Walt “Clyde” Frazier on Pat Riley: “Pat Riley and me entered the league the same year, he tried to guard me and that’s how he ended up as a coach”

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Brian Mahoney: "Riley and I entered the league the same year. He tried to guard me and that's how he ended up as a coach." -- The great Walt Frazier, as Pat Riley is shown during the Knicks-Heat game on MSG.

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