Retirement seems unlikely for Riley
According to ESPN story, he’s still driven by winning at age 72.
Heat President Pat Riley said he “needs” one more title, but admitted this will be the most difficult one to reach in his career.
Riley, in a story written by Wright Thompson of ESPN, once again addressed retirement but acknowledge he remains driven by winning.
In early March, Riley decided not to accompany the team to Cleveland, where it was facing the defending champions for the second time in three nights. Already Riley had figured out how many games the Heat needed to win to complete their comeback and sneak into the playoffs — ultimately they would fall one game short — that night, before the game, he sent a text message that read:
“I NEED ONE MORE AND I KNOW THIS WILL BE THE TOUGHEST TO GET.”
Though Riley, 72, spoke in September about approaching retirement, he appears to be rejuvenated by the way the Heat turned around their season from an 11-30 start to finish 41-41 and the challenge to bring Miami a fourth title.
According to the story, Riley’s five-year contract signed last year came with the understanding that he “can work anywhere, including his perch overlooking the Pacific.” And actor Michael Douglas, a close friend of Riley’s, told Thompson, “That’s all he talks about, getting back to Malibu to that house.”
Riley talks about his desire to return to his estate on the ocean in Malibu, and friends say this conflict in his life is known as Miami vs. Malibu. He and his wife, Chris, spend about a month of each year there, according to the story, and even were there for a night recently before scouting NCAA Tournament games in Sacramento.
But Riley does not sound as if he’ll be retiring to the West Coast anytime soon, especially not when Thompson ends the story with this quote from Riley.
“You know the greatest lie in the world?” he says, starting to laugh. “Pat’s retiring to Malibu.”
Riley talked about the painful breakups with LeBron James and Dwyane Wade and retaining Chris Bosh three years ago after James ended his four-year stay in Miami and returned to Cleveland.
Riley recalled the conversation when he learned LeBron was leaving. It started with LeBron saying to Riley over the phone: “I want to thank you for four years. ...”
“I was silent,” Riley told Thompson. “I didn’t say anything. My mind began to just go. And it was over. I was very angry when LeBron left. It was personal for me. It just was. I had a very good friend who talked me off the ledge and kept me from going out there and saying something like Dan Gilbert (did). I’m glad I didn’t do it.”
Riley said he had a bad feeling when he walked into a meeting with LeBron and his camp in a hotel room in Las Vegas when LeBron’s business manager, Maverick Carter, was not present and LeBron appeared more interested in watching a soccer match on TV than talking with Riley.
Riley said Bosh’s camp wanted to renegotiate almost immediately after LeBron left, hoping to take advantage of the Heat’s vulnerable state. Riley gave Bosh a maximum deal worth more than $118 million, but Thompson wrote Riley now “wishes he’d said no ... and given all that money to Wade.”
As for Wade, Riley reiterated how he regrets not getting more involved in negotiations but said he stayed away because Wade’s agent asked to deal directly with the owners. Wade left the Heat last summer after 13 years to sign with his hometown Chicago Bulls.
“I know he feels I didn’t fight hard enough for him,” Riley told Thompson. “I was very, very sad when Dwyane said no. I wish I could have been there and told him why I didn’t really fight for him at the end. ... I fought for the team. The one thing I wanted to do for him, and maybe this is what obscured my vision, but I wanted to get him another player so he could end his career competitive.”