Riley, Patrick J.
Basketball
b. March 20, 1945, Schenectady, NY
Riley, though only 6-foot-4, was one of the tallest players on the Kentucky team known as "Rupp's Runts" that won 27 of 29 games in 1965-66. Coached by Adolph Rupp, the team lost to Texas Western in the NCAA championship game. In his senior year, 1966-67, Riley captained Kentucky. He scored 1,464 points in his career, averaging 18.3 a game.
A first-round draft pick of the NBA's San Diego Rockets, Riley never became an NBA star. He played three seasons for the Rockets, four for the Los Angeles Lakers, and one for the Phoenix Suns before retiring in 1976. He scored 2,906 points in 528 regular season games, a 7.4 average, and also had 913 assists and 855 rebounds.
After working as an announcer and then an assistant coach for the Lakers, Riley became head coach in 1981. In his first seven seasons, Los Angeles went to the NBA finals five times and won four championships. In 1986, they became the first team since the 1968-69 Boston Celtics to win two NBA titles in a row.
Riley left the Lakers after the 1989-90 season to return to broadcasting, but he took over the New York Knicks in 1991. He led the Knicks to the playoffs four years in a row. In 1994, they went to the NBA championship final, but lost to the Houston Rockets in seven games.
In 1995, Riley became president and head coach of the Miami Heat. He guided the Heat to playoff appearances in his first six seasons there, but they were only 36-46 in 2001-02, Riley's first losing season as a head coach. The following season, they slipped all the way to 25-47 and Riley resigned his coaching position. However, he remains president of the team.
Riley coached teams to 19 consecutive playoff appearances, an NBA record, and he he reached 1,000 career victories faster than any other coach or manager in the major professional team sports. His 1,110 wins is second on the all-time list. He's first in postseason games coached, 255, and second in postseason victories, 155.
