Pat Riley

Patrick James "Pat" Riley (born March 20, 1945 in Rome, New York) is a celebrated basketball coach who has won four NBA titles as coach, in addition to earning one as a player.

Riley was a versatile athlete in college, and particularly known as a forward for the 1966 University of Kentucky basketball team, which fell in the NCAA title game to Texas Western (now known as UTEP). Riley was even drafted as a flanker by the Dallas Cowboys in the 11th round of the 1967 NFL draft, but did not play pro football.

Riley was a bench player in the early 1970s with the Los Angeles Lakers, the team that he helped to the 1972 NBA title. After a relatively obscure NBA career as a player, he retired, but he returned to the NBA in the early 1980s as an assistant coach with the Lakers.

Riley ascended to head coach in 1982, and the team defeated the Philadelphia 76ers for the championship that year. Both teams returned to the NBA Finals in 1983, but Riley's Lakers were swept by the 76ers that time. Riley would experience NBA Finals defeat again in 1984, when his Lakers lost in seven games to the Boston Celtics. In 1985, however, Riley earned his second title as a coach, when the Lakers beat the Celtics in six games in the NBA Finals. In 1986, the Lakers lost in five games in the Western Conference Finals to the Houston Rockets, Ralph Sampson's now famous buzzer-beater shot sending the Lakers into elimination in Game 5.

Riley's 1987 Lakers team is considered one of the greatest teams of all times by many. Aided by Laker regulars Magic Johnson, James Worthy and Kareem Abdul Jabbar, plus role players such as Michael Cooper and Byron Scott, the Lakers regained the NBA championship, once again beating the Celtics in six games.

One of Riley's most famous moments came during the championship celebration, when he promised the crowd a repeat during the Lakers' championship parade in downtown Los Angeles. While 1988's Lakers did not produce as many wins as the team's 1987 version, nevertheless, they became the first team in 20 years to repeat as champions, making good on Riley's promise by beating the Detroit Pistons in seven games in the 1988 NBA Finals. But in 1989, the Lakers, plagued by injuries, lost to the Pistons when the Pistons swept them in an NBA Finals rematch.

Riley stepped down as coach of the Lakers after they lost to the Phoenix Suns in five games at the 1990 NBA playoffs, amid rumors of player mistreatment and anger problems by his part. Despite the rumors and his resignation, he was named NBA coach of the year for the first time after that season. Riley accepted a job as a television commentator for NBC after leaving the Lakers, but this job only lasted one year, because he was signed by the Knicks in 1991 as head coach. In 1993, he received his second coach of the year award. Riley returned to the NBA Finals in 1994, but his Knicks lost in seven games to the Rockets. In 1995, Riley resigned, and went on to coach the Miami Heat. In 1997, Riley was selected as coach of the year for the third time.

Riley was so disgusted with the Heat's performance in 2002 that he declared that he was about to fire himself during one stretch of that season. Before the beginning of the 2003-2004 season, he did step down as Heat coach, to dedicate himself to his job as general manager of the team full-time.

Outside of basketball, Riley is known for his friendship with Giorgio Armani, preferring to wear Armani suits during basketball games, and even modeling once at an Armani show.

Riley is second in the all-time winningest coach list, behind Lenny Wilkens.

Riley is also known for copyrighting the word Threepeat [1] (http://www.google.com/search?q=pat%20riley%20threepeat).

College Stats (University of Kentucky)

Season	Games Played	Minutes	FG	FGA	%	FT	FTA	%	Total Rebs	Asst.	F	Total Points
1964-65	25	825	160	370	43.2	55	89	61.8	212	27	98	375
1965-66	29	1078	265	514	51.6	107	153	69.9	259	64	106	637
1966-67	26	953	165	373	44.2	122	156	78.2	201	68	90	452
Total	80	2856	590	1257	46.9	284	398	71.4	672	159	294	1464

NBA Stats

Regular Season Stats
Year	Age	Team	G	Min	Pts	PPG	FGM	FGA	FGP	FTM	FTA	FTP	3PM	3PA	3PP	REB	RPG	AST	APG	STL	BLK	TO
1967-68	22	San Diego Rockets	80	1263	628	7.9	250	660	.379	128	202	.634	0	0	.000	177	2.2	138	1.7	0	0	0
1968-69	23	San Diego Rockets	56	1027	494	8.8	202	498	.406	90	134	.672	0	0	.000	112	2.0	136	2.4	0	0	0
1969-70	24	San Diego Rockets	36	474	190	5.3	75	180	.417	40	55	.727	0	0	.000	57	1.6	85	2.4	0	0	0
1970-71	25	Los Angeles Lakers	54	506	266	4.9	105	254	.413	56	87	.644	0	0	.000	54	1.0	72	1.3	0	0	0
1971-72	26	Los Angeles Lakers	67	926	449	6.7	197	441	.447	55	74	.743	0	0	.000	127	1.9	75	1.1	0	0	0
1972-73	27	Los Angeles Lakers	55	801	399	7.3	167	390	.428	65	82	.793	0	0	.000	65	1.2	81	1.5	0	0	0
1973-74	28	Los Angeles Lakers	72	1361	684	9.5	287	667	.430	110	144	.764	0	0	.000	128	1.8	148	2.1	54	3	0
1974-75	29	Los Angeles Lakers	46	1016	507	11.0	219	523	.419	69	93	.742	0	0	.000	85	1.8	121	2.6	36	4	0
1975-76	30	Phoenix Suns	62	813	289	4.7	117	301	.389	55	77	.714	0	0	.000	50	0.8	57	0.9	22	6	0
9 Season Totals			528	8187	3906	7.4	1619	3914	.414	668	948	.705	0	0	.000	855	1.6	913	1.7	112	13	0

Playoff Stats
Year	Team	G	Min	Pts	PPG	FGM	FGA	FGP	FTM	FTA	FTP	3PM	3PA	3PP	REB	RPG	AST	APG	STL	BLK	TO
1968-69	San Diego Rockets	5	76	37	7.4	16	37	.432	5	6	.833	0	0	.000	11	2.2	2	0.4	0	0	0
1970-71	Los Angeles Lakers	7	135	66	9.4	29	69	.420	8	11	.727	0	0	.000	15	2.1	14	2.0	0	0	0
1971-72	Los Angeles Lakers	15	244	78	5.2	33	99	.333	12	16	.750	0	0	.000	29	1.9	14	0.9	0	0	0
1972-73	Los Angeles Lakers	7	53	18	2.6	9	27	.333	0	0	.000	0	0	.000	5	0.7	7	1.0	0	0	0
1973-74	Los Angeles Lakers	5	106	39	7.8	18	50	.360	3	4	.750	0	0	.000	6	1.2	10	2.0	0	0	0
1975-76	Phoenix Suns	5	27	13	2.6	6	15	.400	1	1	1.000	0	0	.000	0	0.0	5	1.0	0	0	0
Totals		44	641	251	5.7	111	297	.374	29	38	.763	0	0	.000	66	1.5	52	1.2	0	0	0

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