Pat Riley, a nine-time NBA champion as player, coach and executive, said this week that Miami Heat owner Micky Arison rescued his coaching career nearly three decades ago.
Speaking with reporters in South Florida, Riley recalled the summer of 1995, when his future on the sidelines was uncertain until Arison offered him the job in Miami.
“He saved basically my coaching life,” Riley said. “When that finally came to fruition and I became the coach in September, we both went to work.”
Since pairing up, the two have guided the Heat to multiple championships, regular appearances in the Eastern Conference finals and a franchise identity Riley described as unyielding. “Even the years that we knew we may not be the team, we fought like hell to be the team,” he added.
Riley, whose teams have appeared in 25 percent of all NBA Finals since the 1970s, praised Arison as “a tremendously honest guy who always wanted to win” and noted the owner’s loyalty to coaches, staff and employees throughout his tenure.
The Hall of Fame executive concluded that none of his Miami accomplishments would have been possible without the chance Arison took on him in 1995—an opportunity that cemented a partnership still defining the Heat nearly 30 years later.
Source: Hoops Wire
