The Miami Heat will always be in good hands, as long as Pat Riley is at the helm and you know why? Simply, because he is one of the greatest to ever do it.
As the Miami Heat and the NBA as a whole prepare to embark on the continuation and hopeful completion of this season, you can really tell that NBA fans are starting to get anxious. Perusing through our friendly neighborhood Twitter recently, dare I say I came across a disturbing little thought.
While this isn’t the most unfamiliar or surprising progression in mankind, this one in particular really struck a bad chord. The thought was this, one that flat out said that Pat Riley was overrated.
Yes, that Pat Riley. The same Pat Riley that in total, has a part in eight NBA championships.
He won one as a player, apart of the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers. He then went on to, of course, coach the Lakers to four more titles, before then coaching our beloved Miami Heat to their first title in franchise history.
Not stopping with those six, he then concocted perhaps the greatest team ever in the Big 3, which eventually turned into two more Miami Heat titles. Yea, that guy’s overrated.
Miami Heat decision-maker, Pat Riley, is rightfully many things, but overrated is not one.
Not that we believe that notion had the slightest bit of merit, it’s always fun to show how it is the farthest thing from the truth. There is also a more recent example that highlights the exquisite basketball brilliance of Pat Riley in all facets of the game, especially talent recognition and acquisition.
Here is that example in this tweet from CBS Sports HQ.
https://twitter.com/cbssportshq/status/1277977889716068353?s=12
As the tweet implies, Pat Riley did exactly that. When anyone and everyone just knew that the Miami Heat couldn’t’ make it happen, Pat Riley did.
Pat Riley was able to land Jimmy Butler in a trade with his then Philadelphia 76ers. We all should know the story by now as The Godfather was able to make the deal happen without cap space or the necessary “assets” that it would typically take to get a deal of this nature done.
While he did have to move a beloved Miami Heat player at the time in Josh Richardson(who I still tend to think will find his way home), the Miami Heat were able to get the best player back in a series of deals and the best player by a long way.
This “series” included the Miami Heat being able to rid themselves of Hassan Whiteside, while getting something back of merit from the Blazers in Meyers Leonard. To be short and direct, Pat Riley won that deal.
To summarize, Pat Riley got the best player in the deal, without any real assets, without giving up any of the assets that he did have, while also shipping out an at the time toxic player, while also getting a more than suitable replacement player for said shipped out player, that just so happens to also be a better fit for the Miami Heat because of his shooting.
Pat Riley, overrated? Not by a long shot.
That is just the latest of a long line of Pat Riley magic and stone-cold proof that he is in no way overrated. This has been your frequent reminder.