A look at the milestone Pat Riley hit this week with the Heat. And Jimmy Butler headlines
When Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra was told that Tuesday marked the 25th anniversary of Pat Riley’s arrival, he couldn’t believe it.
“It’s the anniversary today?” Spoelstra said in disbelief following Tuesday’s practice in advance of Game 2 of the Heat’s second-round playoff series against the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Heat sent a first-round draft pick and $1 million to the New York Knicks on September 1, 1995, to acquire Riley. That first-round selection sent to New York turned into forward Walter McCarty, while Riley has helped turn Miami into of the most stable and well-run organizations in the NBA.
Riley, 75, spent 11 seasons as the Heat’s head coach and has served as the team president since he arrived. In his 25 seasons with the organization, the Heat has made 19 postseason appearances and won three NBA championships.
“I’m just extremely grateful for all these years working for the Godfather,” Spoelstra said before tearing up a little when discussing Riley’s milestone. “He really has been an incredible blessing in my life. You’re going to get me emotional now. That just takes me down memory lane. Everybody knows how I feel about Pat. It has kind of surprised me right now. I’m getting a little emotional.
“He has been great for the franchise. That partnership of the Riley and the Arisons, that will go down all time in sports and how they’ve transformed this franchise, but also the city of Miami. It has been a great boost.”
Spoelstra, who was a Heat video coordinator in 1995, was asked what he remembers from the day Riley committed to leading the basketball side of the organization.
“Super nervous,” Spoelstra said. “I thought I would probably be out, and I would’ve been out if it didn’t end the way it did. He couldn’t bring anybody from New York. But if he could have, he was going to bring Jeff [Van Gundy], I had heard, and probably his whole staff. He was definitely going to bring his video guy. So I thought there was a very strong potential that I was going to be out without a job going into coaching in September. That’s tough timing, but I had already had some good experience working for the draft so I was cool with that. But I was definitely nervous.”
Riley and general manager Andy Elisburg are in the Orlando area to attend the Heat’s second-round playoff games against the Bucks at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex. Since Riley and Elisburg are not residing in the NBA bubble amid the COVID-19 pandemic, they must use separate entrances and exits in the arenas while remaining socially distanced at least 25 feet from the court/players and coaches in the traveling party and wearing a mask at all times.
“Any time when you talk to Pat, it’s amazing,” Heat guard Goran Dragic said. “You can learn so much from him. He has been through everything as a player, as a coach, as a president, GM. He has a lot of knowledge. Every time when I talk to him, I’m only ears and eyes and try to learn as much as possible.”
PLAYOFF JIMMY BUZZ
After scoring a playoff career-high 40 points in the Heat’s Game 1 win Monday, All-Star Jimmy Butler has received well-deserved attention from the national media.
During a sit-down interview with Sam Amick from The Athletic following Tuesday’s practice, Butler spoke about various on-court and off-court topics.
Butler was asked about former Philadelphia 76ers teammate Joel Embiid, who tweeted “IF......” during Butler’s career-best playoff performance (likely referring to what might have been if Butler was still with Philadelphia).
“That’s my guy,” Butler said. “Outside of basketball, I love that man to death. He knows that. I tell him every opportunity I get, and I appreciate him for making me a better player, a better leader, better at understanding so many different things. I talk to him all the time, and I tell him, ‘I wish you were still in the playoffs, because you deserve a championship.’ Because he works. He works at it, and that’s just my guy. Yeah, I saw it, and I know that he still wanted me to be on his team. And I still wanted to be teammates with him. Let’s not get that misunderstood. But here, with these guys, I’m not trading that for the world either.”
Of current All-Star teammate Bam Adebayo, Butler said: “He’s everything to us. To think about what he has to do on both ends of the floor. Way harder than my job, especially in this series, because he’s got to guard everybody. He’s gotta start out on Giannis, switch out on [Khris] Middleton, switch onto whoever else, and he never, ever, ever once complains, man. Never. Never. ... It’s one of the hardest things to do, to play 100 percent on both ends of the floor man. I’m telling you, that is the definition of a max player.
“I think he was in the trade to Minnesota. If I would’ve gotten traded from Minnesota to Miami, he would’ve been in it, so we always laugh and joke about it now. But he was a big part of me wanting to come here.”
Butler was also the focus of an ESPN story written by Brian Windhorst that was published Monday.
Windhorst wrote that Butler initially failed the Heat’s rigorous conditioning test last fall, which is required to be admitted to training camp. A league source confirmed Windhorst’s reporting.
Windhorst wrote: “Just as Butler’s first try was set to begin, Pat Riley, team president and franchise godfather, appeared on the sideline. Butler saw him, his adrenaline immediately pumping. For the first several rounds, Butler was flying through the drill. But by the fifth round, his back stiffened; he’d gone too hard. When it was over, Butler had failed. The next morning, Butler was up before 4 a.m., going back into the gym getting ready to try it again.”
DAN CRAIG DRAWING INTEREST
Miami Heat assistant coach Dan Craig has been granted permission to interview for the Chicago Bulls’ coaching vacancy, a league source confirmed Wednesday.
The Bulls are looking for a replacement for Jim Boylen, who was fired as head coach last month.
Among others being considered for the opening, according to ESPN, are former Brooklyn Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson, Milwaukee Bucks assistant coach Darvin Ham, Denver Nuggets assistant coach Wes Unseld Jr., Dallas Mavericks assistant coaches Jamahl Mosley and Stephen Silas, Philadelphia 76ers assistant coach Ime Udoka, and Minnesota Timberwolves associate head coach David Vanterpool.
Craig, 38, is in his 17th season with the Heat and his fourth as an assistant coach as part of Spoelstra’s staff. Craig is currently with the Heat in the NBA’s Disney bubble.
This story was originally published September 2, 2020 at 12:32 PM.
