Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Riley looks ahead to that Magic moment
MIAMI — They have basked in Showtime championship glory with the Los Angeles Lakers, endured a breakup at the end of that run, and now find themselves as management rivals.
So what happens when Pat Riley and close friend Magic Johnson wind up getting down to business?
That was among the topics during a Monday “Teamed Up” panel discussion with Riley and Johnson in Los Angeles as part of American Express event.
After scouting prospects in the Los Angeles area as part of the Miami Heat’s preparations for the June 22 draft, Riley was asked by ESPN host Cari Champion about that inevitable call regarding a trade from the Hall of Fame point guard he coached and developed an enduring bond with, even after differences that led to Riley’s departure as Lakers coach in 1990.
“It depends on who calls who,” Riley said with a laugh. “If I called him first, then he ain’t gonna say anything. And if he calls me first, I’m going to say, ‘I know that I can make your team better.’ Let’s have a conversation. Let’s do this, forget about the cap ramifications and start talking about player personnel . . . and before you know it, I get a treasure of players.
“We’re going to have the conversation.”
That got Riley talking about his views on how to complete a transaction, and the benefit he has of having owner Micky Arison alongside.
“Here’s what I believe in, and I really do, this is what I learned from Jerry [West] and everybody that’s been in management, is that if you go into any kind of transaction trying to make a deal with a team, it’s got to be fair,” Riley said. “You can’t have somebody call you on the phone and make something. I just hang up on ‘em most of the time.
“If I really think it’s something that’s going to help both teams, I’ll pay a nickel more. My dad always told me, ‘Pay a nickel more,’ even though we didn’t have a nickel, ‘pay a nickel more’ for what it is you need. And I have an owner that will pay more than a nickel more. He has 107 cruise ships out there.”
Riley also chided Johnson about the challenges of working out of the executive suite, joking about the Lakers’ expected choice of UCLA point guard Lonzo Ball at No. 2 in the draft.
“When I went from coaching to the front office, my first three months I was actually in fits, because I had lost control. You lose control of the team and the game, because you’re just selecting players,” Riley said. “And one thing you don’t want to do as president is secondguess your coach too much, go down to the locker room, don’t hang around too much.
“And so he was the alltime leader of all leaders on the Lakers, so he will sit up there in that box of his, and when things aren’t going good the first, he’s going to want to go down there and be Lonzo Ball’s mentor.”
Riley then reflected on his two-decade head start on Johnson in management.
“I have a great owner in Micky Arison, his son, Nick, who’s the CEO, Andy Elisburg, Chet Kammerer, Adam Simon,” he said of the Heat executive staff. “Everybody that I have come in to the Heat with, the last 22 years, we’ve all been together, and our Erik Spoelstra, our head coach, is one of the great sort of contemporary, millennial coaches.”