Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James has a personal history with the legendary Pat Riley.
In the summer of 2010, James would join the Miami Heat, where Riley still serves as team President, and they went on to win two NBA Championships in four seasons.
It is believed by many that LeBron and Riley weren’t on the greatest of terms when the former left the Heat to return to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2014. But whether or not that is true, James still made sure to catch some of the ceremony honoring Riley at halftime of the Lakers’ contest against the Boston Celtics and made it clear that he holds nothing but respect to the legendary coach and executive who got a statue outside of Crypto.com Arena.
“Absolutely. I got out there for a little bit and sat on the bench during half-time,” LeBron said. “That’s one of the all-time greats since he’s been a part of this league, as a player, as a coach, executive, front office, everything. Obviously, what he did here for the Lakers organization in the 1980’s, it goes without saying and rightfully so with him having a statue outside this building. I spent four years with him. I’ve got the upmost respect for him and for his family and everything. So, it’s pretty cool.”
The Lakers unveiled Riley’s statue prior to Sunday’s contest, honoring him for his time with the franchise where he brought in four championships as the head coach during the famed ‘Showtime’ era. Of course, LeBron’s connection with Riley is through Miami and he is thankful for everything Riley and the Heat meant to him for his career.
“I think it’s just the whole Heat organization,” James noted. “I went down there with the only goal, only mindset that I had was to win a championship. I felt like I couldn’t do it at my first stint in Cleveland, tried, just didn’t feel like it would be possible. So I needed to figure out my own path and conquer some goals that I had. I feel like going there, they had did it in ’06 so not even four years removed or whatever the case may be, and they had a couple of down years after that. So I feel like I know how to play the game and I felt like they could possibly put me in a position where I could achieve the goals that I had, and I was able to accomplish that.”
Many feel that LeBron was at his peak when he was with the Heat and the fact that he was only there for four seasons still doesn’t feel right. And James himself admits that it is interesting to think about what could’ve been if he had stayed in Miami, but that also would have changed so much in his career.
“I never said that I’m going to go there for four years and then decide to go. That’s just how the cards were played,” LeBron added. “But yeah, it’s human nature to look back and say what could have been. But you know, that’s part of life. The four years we had were great. Obviously, we were able to pick up two championships. We lost two of them, unfortunately. But a lot of great memories [and] a lot of great times there. It would’ve been interesting to see what could have happened. I also wouldn’t have given myself another 12 years to be playing this game either. So that’s another story.”
Who knows if LeBron ever would have put on the purple and gold for the Lakers had he remained in Miami past 2014, but these are the questions we’ll never get answers to. Instead, James can just look back fondly on his time with Riley and the Heat, and continue to push himself to lead the Lakers to greatness in the present.
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