How Heat’s Riley stands to benefit from a Chiefs win. And the Highsmith mystery lingers
Pat Riley this week reportedly struck a deal with the Kansas City Chiefs that will compensate the Heat’s president and his foundation if the Chiefs beat the Philadelphia Eagles in Sunday’s Super Bowl.
The deal, first reported by sports business writer Darren Rovell, will pay Riley for use of his trademarked ‘three-peat’ phrase if the Chiefs become the first NFL team to win three consecutive Super Bowls.
Riley owns six trademarks to various forms of “Three-Peat” and has the rights to use that on merchandise, including apparel and beverages. He applied for the trademark in 1988, after the Lakers won two consecutive championships. But the Lakers lost to the Pistons in the Finals the following season.
Riley eventually cashed in on the trademark when Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls won a third consecutive championship in 1993, becoming the first NBA team to do that since the mid-1960s Celtics.
Riley again benefited when the Bulls won three more titles in a row later in the 1990s. The Lakers and Yankees also won three titles in row, creating additional royalties for Riley. Attempts to trademark similar phrases have been struck down by courts, including one by the University of Southern California that attempted to trademark “Three-Pete” in honor of then-Trojans coach Pete Carroll.
Riley’s trademark attorney John Aldrich declined to disclose financial terms to Rovell but said Riley would allocate money earned toward the Pat Riley Family Foundation. Rovell said reports that Riley would make millions “are extremely exaggerated,” noting that Riley would make $1.50 to $2.25 for each $30 hat, as an example.
Former Lakers guard Wes Matthews reportedly coined the phrase, but that has been uncorroborated. Previously, Bryon Scott said he came up with it, but that was never proven.
THE HIGHSMITH MYSTERY
After several recent games in which the Heat unraveled defensively, Erik Spoelstra spoke of the need to do a better job containing opponent penetration.
But in many of those games, the playing time of Haywood Highsmith - considered Miami’s best available on-the-ball defender - has been fairly limited.
In Tuesday’s 133-124 loss at Chicago, Highsmith logged 21 points, while Terry Rozier logged 29 during a 2 for 12 shooting night.
In the 12 games that Miami has permitted at least 120 points this season, Highsmith has topped 20 minutes in just six of them.
He played 16 minutes in the 136-100 loss to Utah, 13 in the 133-113 loss to Denver and 21 in a 125-96 loss at Milwaukee.
The Heat is 21-16 in Highsmith’s 37 starts. His 177 fourth quarter minutes ranks seventh on the team, and his 47 clutch minutes (final five minutes; margin of five points or fewer) is fourth most on the team.
Spoelstra said recently that he might have been “overthinking” when he opted to start Pelle Larsson over Highsmith in a recent game.
Highsmith’s 6-foot-5 frame paired with his 7-foot wingspan gives him the versatility and length to effectively guard most positions on the court.
The Bulls scored 34 and 39 points in the final two quarters of their comeback win against Miami on Tuesday.
Spoelstra cited one defensive issue as “dribble penetration, either in pick-and-roll situations just getting right down the guy or in some kind of scramble from there. But we were never able to really contain the ball regardless of what scheme we were in. Our defense didn’t travel tonight and we paid the price.
“I didn’t feel good about our defense going into the half, just how many drives we were giving up and opportunities at the rim, where they were just getting it pretty easily on a one-trigger action, which we’re much better. I’m not taking anything away from them. We’re much better than what we showed tonight. It’s just a tough lesson.”
