Pat Riley Is Just About Ready to Call it Quits
Can you blame the guy?
Decimated by injuries and old age, the Miami Heat have the second worst record in the NBA. And with talk that his players have begun to tune him out, coach Pat Riley is leaning towards giving up the coaching gig after this season. He would stay on board as team president.
“Sometimes, just with me, I feel like now, more than ever, I might be butting heads with both jobs,” he said. “And I’ve revisited that over and over again.”
“I was much better, I believe, just as a president,” he said, “because I wasn’t having to deal with the personalities.”
If Riles wasn’t entirely convinced that it’s time to step aside, a loss to the lowly Timberwolves last night surely edged him closer to that decision.
Even though everyone rolled their eyes in disbelief when he made a promise this past summer to coach for the next three seasons, the Heat and its fans should be thankful that Riley is at least giving them the courtesy of an early warning, instead of just suddenly walking away as had become his custom.
56 Responses to “Pat Riley Is Just About Ready to Call it Quits”
Jan.9 at 10:03 am
white hot eboy says:
I wouldn’t mind Rick Carlise in the coaches chair.
Jan.9 at 10:04 am
H to the izzo says:
It’s unlike him to quit whenever he feels like it.
Jan.9 at 10:10 am
Tarzan Cooper says:
while hannibel is dealing with this sh#t, stan van jeremy is chillin with dwight
Jan.9 at 10:10 am
white hot eboy says:
This will coincide with my prediction that Shaq will walk away after this season too. Damn, I’m good.
Jan.9 at 10:10 am
jbn74sb says:
This is a great idea from Riles, especially considering how well his front office decisions have worked out this year.
Jan.9 at 10:11 am
H to the izzo says:
Bodie!
Jan.9 at 10:15 am
white hot eboy says:
Bodie, are you in a silk robe and fluffy slippers right now?
Jan.9 at 10:15 am
d.Y. says:
This is approaching Larry Brown like levels of bruised ego syndrome.
Jan.9 at 10:19 am
white hot eboy says:
What would be worse, making the playoffs and getting knocked out in a early round series, ala Bodie’s Lakers, or tanking the season, as the Heat are doing, and get a top 5 pick in one of the stronger draft classes in recent seasons? Pat’s smarter than all of you. Dummies.
Jan.9 at 10:20 am
peteb80 says:
The rat is leaving the sinking ship… Eboy, weren’t you predicting all summer long, that the Heat would still be among the top teams in the east?
Jan.9 at 10:22 am
Tarzan Cooper says:
this will not be shaq’s last season. he wont be happy going out like this.
Jan.9 at 10:23 am
Tarzan Cooper says:
that is why he is sitting, so to will wade. the tank is on. shaq will probably go for broke next year….zzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Jan.9 at 10:24 am
Hisham says:
I would definitely go for the first option, Eboy. Pride, credibility and competitive spirit are apparently not very high on their list of values.
Jan.9 at 10:25 am
white hot eboy says:
pete, if all things went well, which they haven’t. Injuries, another move or two, none of it happened. It’s all in black and white in Cheryl and mine’s preview. I’m still with them, though. It’s not like they’d be anywhere in the Pistons or Celtics radar. Actually, no one else in the East will be either.
Jan.9 at 10:27 am
white hot eboy says:
Hisham, I guess you can be content to be marginal every year like the Suns or the Nets, but why bother?
Jan.9 at 10:28 am
d.Y. says:
I can’t see Shaq fading quietly into Sobe. He’ll push himself to be what he was, and it ends on an injury ala Chuck or Zo.
Jan.9 at 10:32 am
Tarzan Cooper says:
its sad to see a great great player decay
Jan.9 at 10:37 am
Hisham says:
No that’s not it.. Of course i’d want my team to compete for a championship every year, but not like that. When you’ve been bad for a while, like the cavs before lebron, or the celtics, it’s understandable (still not excusable though). Miami has had a winning team since the mid-late 90’s, with a short dip in the 2000’s, but eventually a chip in ‘06. No matter what happens, tanking can’t be an option in ‘08 can it? If I was a fan of that team, i’d want my team to go down fighting. I just believe that ever since they won the championship, they absolutely lost their hunger, and replaced it with arrogance. Nothing personal, Eboy. Just the way I feel about it.
Jan.9 at 10:38 am
jbn74sb says:
I don’t know, eboy, it would be kind of fun watching Shaq get dominated by Kendrick Perkins if the Heat somehow snuck into the 8 spot. What acronym would he give himself afterwards? MOE? WEE?
Jan.9 at 10:41 am
white hot eboy says:
WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jan.9 at 10:44 am
Captain America says:
Shaq is not going to walk away from a guaranteed $20M per year contract this year, next year, and the following year. Dream on…
Jan.9 at 10:47 am
white hot eboy says:
Hisham, I typed a long response to your comment, but it disappeared. A moron’s comment appeared in it’s place. Oh, well.
Jan.9 at 10:53 am
Keith says:
Izzo, your first comment sums it all up for me. Nicely done.
Jan.9 at 10:53 am
Mark Z says:
Riles should have walked away after their Championship season… He’s got the old school charm that wears off after a season or three. Carlisle, Van Gundy, Skiles, Brown all the same. The can motivate teams in the short term, but players get tired of their schtick eventually…
Jan.9 at 11:01 am
neaorin says:
He’ll be back on the bench around this time next year after Scott Skiles guides the team to a 22-13 record.
Jan.9 at 11:09 am
Hisham says:
Oh well…
Jan.9 at 11:10 am
Tarzan Cooper says:
shaq will have nothing to do with skiles…nevermind, shaq probably used to punk him
Jan.9 at 11:19 am
TADOne says:
I’ve had a lot of comments disappearing on me in the last couple of days as well. Anyone know why?
Jan.9 at 11:20 am
BETCATS says:
he needs to bring out some of the showtime laker plays
Jan.9 at 11:22 am
Tarzan Cooper says:
holly hates you
Jan.9 at 11:29 am
Ryan Jones says:
Ronny Seikaly is not walking through that door.
Jan.9 at 11:30 am
white hot eboy says:
I’d take Michael Doleac at this point.
Jan.9 at 11:37 am
TADOne says:
What ever happened to Doleac? I thought he was on the team?
Jan.9 at 11:38 am
Tarzan Cooper says:
roy hibbert?
Jan.9 at 11:56 am
Slick Nick Da Ruler says:
Ronny Seikaly’s wife?
Jan.9 at 11:59 am
polowthaJon says:
When Luke Jackson is your main scoring option in the third quarter, Id say it’s time to pack it in. The Heat has dissapated.
Jan.9 at 12:23 pm
zee says:
If you translate this article right, basically Riles is saying: ” Now that I got my ring at the expense of Van Jeremy, It’s about time for me to keep it movin back behind closed doors and let some other schmo deal with this.” It’s a wrap for the 07-08 Heat, this season.
Jan.9 at 12:29 pm
jbn74sb says:
By the way, what the hell happened to Luke Jackson. Dude was dominant in college, and now he makes Shaq look athletic.
Jan.9 at 12:37 pm
white hot eboy says:
Luke Jackson conjurs up thought of Bodie’s game and athleticism quotent.
Jan.9 at 12:40 pm
Bryan says:
F*ck Pat Riley.
Jan.9 at 12:44 pm
white hot eboy says:
There’s always that, too.
Jan.9 at 1:00 pm
Myles Brown says:
I seriously didnt think Riles was gonna come out of the locker room for the second half last night.
Jan.9 at 1:00 pm
jbn74sb says:
I wish that were true, eboy. Luke Jackson is about 25 years old, and a millionaire as a result of his basketball ability.
BTW - Watching Shaq play (when he plays, that is) is akin to watching an aging lion, limping around his pride, fearful yet defiant. Sad, but it’s the nature of the beast.
Jan.9 at 1:06 pm
60milesanhour says:
shag aint walking away from no money, he’s going thru a divorce and word on ocean drive is, it’s going to cost him mucho dollahs. he might have to star in big holloywood movie again or do a genre defining rap album.
Jan.9 at 1:08 pm
60milesanhour says:
clarence tablespoon is not walking thru that door!!! jamal mashed knees is not walking thru that door, tim hardlygay is not walking thru that door!!!
Jan.9 at 1:38 pm
Dutch Rich says:
Preserve that winning record Riles, great move.
Jan.9 at 1:59 pm
Brian says:
I don’t see why Miami is struggling so much. Did Bennett Salvatore get hurt?
Jan.9 at 2:18 pm
Jared says:
hahaha brian you win
Jan.9 at 4:26 pm
Krayzie Bone says:
Luke Jackson had some sort of congenital back problem, which has required multiple surguries and turned him into a standstill jumpshooter.
Jan.9 at 4:43 pm
Russ Bengtson says:
Thank God Alonzo Mourning’s not alive to see this.
Jan.9 at 5:03 pm
Ken says:
Pat Riley is such a deserter. Just like he almost deserted the team last year when it looked like they weren’t gonna make the playoffs. When the going gets tough, Pat Riley gets going. It’s his mess, he should be responsible for cleaning it up.
Jan.9 at 6:04 pm
albie1kenobi says:
i thought he was gonna try using that kiddie pool for motivation again. last time it resulted in a championship, so shouldn’t that be able to get heat to play 500 ball at least?
Jan.9 at 6:55 pm
Kevin says:
So it begins for Riles. He already left one season for an ‘emergency hip replacement’, that just couldn’t wait. How’s he going to get out of this season? My guess is that he pulls a Fred Sanford on the sideline, and starts faking a heart attack and claiming he is going up to heaven.
Jan.9 at 7:10 pm
Chris O says:
“Decimated by injuries and old age,” — I thought you were talking about Riley here.
Jan.10 at 2:53 am
ak47 says:
I’m sure Riley is looking for an excuse to get out of coaching Miami. It’ll be interesting to see what it’s gonna be.
Jan.10 at 11:50 am
Slobodan Chutzpah says:
Well, Riles is the foremost quitter in the business, so this wouldn’t surprise anyone. I find it funny that he gets heaped with praise even though his Heat teams have constantly underperformed (at least when they got to the playoffs). Of course, it’s nice being GM: that way you can quit while keeping your job every time you’ve run the team to the ground. (You do remember how they used to crash out of the playoffs in the late 90s/early 00s, don’t you? Included were a first-round exit vs the last-place Knicks and a first-round sweep in the hands of the Hornets…)