Pat Riley

The current President and former Head Coach of the Miami HEAT. As HEAT President, Riley maintained a standard of excellence within the franchise, both on and off the court, that has allowed the team to maintain its status as one of the most consistent and most successful in the NBA.

Riley is a seven-time National Basketball Association World Champion, as well as the only Head Coach in NBA history to capture Coach of the Year honors with three different teams: the Los Angeles Lakers, the New York Knicks, and the Miami HEAT.

Riley's resume is filled with many milestones during a 20-year coaching career that is one of the most impressive in all of sports. He has compiled a 1,085-502 (.684) all-time record while guiding the Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks and the Miami HEAT. His 1,085 regular season victories trail only Lenny Wilkens on the NBA's all-time list. His 155 postseason victories are one shy of Phil Jackson for the most in NBA history and his 255 postseason games coached rank first all-time in the league. For his career he has averaged over 54 wins per season. His .684 winning percentage in regular season play ranks third all-time in the NBA and his .608 postseason winning percentage ranks seventh all-time in the league annuals. In 1996-97 as the NBA celebrated its 50th Anniversary, Riley received one of the highest honors bestowed upon an NBA coach when he was named one of the Top 10 Coaches of All-time by a panel of media who regularly cover the league. Simply put, Riley is a winner.

Riley is not only one of pro basketball's winningest coaches, but his speeches before hundreds of corporations have earned him the title of "America's Greatest Motivational Speaker." He has been rated by Success magazine as "The best in his field." Riley is a consummate competitor who knows the exhilaration that comes with winning. His philosophy is based upon winning, leadership, mastery, change, and personal growth as well as understanding and controlling the shifting dynamics of a team—any team, whether it is a small company, a giant corporation, a city, or a group of athletes. Riley has also completed an award winning 30-minute Motivational video entitled "Teamwork" in which he applies his winning philosophies to business and life in general. His books Show Time and The Winner Within have appeared on the New York Times Best-Seller list.

Coach Riley brought the 1993-94 New York Knicks to the franchise's first NBA Finals in more than two decades. During the 1994-95 regular season, Coach led New York to a 57-25 record and won their second Atlantic Division Crown. He was named NBA Coach of the Year under the Knicks during the 1992-93 season. Riley has coached in nine out of 14 All-Star Games, once as the East Coast coach with the Knicks, and eight times as the West Coast coach with the Lakers.

The 51 year-old legend was "Coach of the Eighties" when he led the Los Angeles Lakers to four World Championships. During nine seasons as head coach of the Laker dynasty from 1981-82 through 1989-90, Riley became the all-time winningest percentage head coach in NBA history with a remarkable 533-194 record for a .733 winning percentage. The Lakers finished atop the Pacific Division in each of those nine campaigns, never posting less than 50 victories, and five time reaching 60 or more wins. In fact, in 1987-88, the Lakers set an NBA record by becoming the first club in history to record a fourth straight 60-win season. Riley piloted the Lakers to NBA titles in 1982, 1985, 1987, and 1988.

Riley was the San Diego Rockets’ first-round draft pick (seventh overall) in 1967, launching a nine-year NBA career. He played three seasons in San Diego before joining the Lakers in 1970. Riley spent five full seasons in a Laker uniform and averaged 6.7 points per game (ppg) on Los Angeles' 1971-72 NBA championship team. He completed his NBA career with the Phoenix Suns in 1976.

Coach Riley reached the 1000 victory plateau faster than any other Coach or Manager in the 4 major North American professional sports leagues. He currently stands as the all-time leader in both regular season and postseason victories for both the Lakers and the HEAT.

Along with his wife, Chris, Riley has been involved with numerous charity and community service projects throughout his coaching career. They founded The Miami HEAT Family Outreach in 1997 which has raised over $2.7 million for the South Florida community and whose beneficiaries include Jackson Memorial Foundation's Guardian Angels which supports the Holtz Center for seriously ill children, and SafeSpace which is a domestic violence shelter for women and their children. They are also involved in Pediatric AIDS Foundation Kids for Kids organization which they started in 1992 in New York, and the YMCA in Los Angeles, New York, and Miami. For over 30 years the Riley's have been actively involved with Boys and Girls Clubs of America. As a result of his efforts, Riley has received many prestigious awards, including the Miami Project Sports Legend Award in 1992, Boys and Girls Clubs Miami Person of the Year Award in 1998, and was honored by the YMCA Miami in 1998. Pat and Chris live in Florida and have two children, James Patrick, 17, and Elisabeth Marie, 13.

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The Winner Within: Pat Riley is one of the brightest figures to ever coach in the NBA. He understands the psychology of teamwork and personal excellence and is a master at creating organizations whose achievements are greater than the sum of their parts. His speech shows business people how to put those principles to use. He gives audiences a vision of how to go above and beyond. He shows how to ride with the cycles of team change and make the most of every opportunity. Riley also cites ways for them to draw out their natural leadership abilities and further shows how one person can make a difference for an entire team.