So, Pat Riley is reportedly stepping down as coach of the Miami Heat.
It makes all kinds of sense. Simply put, if Pat Riley's heart is not in it, it's good to let someone else have one of the most coveted jobs in the world.
Exhibit A that is heart is not in it: he skipped four games of actual NBA head coaching action to go on scouting trips. I know, it makes some sense in his role as team president. But it's absolutely amazing that a coach -- the person charged with keeping the team inspired and on task -- would miss entire games to attend to other things.
It's not to rare to see coaches who are also front office executives. But it is exceedingly rare to see coaches miss games because of it.
But, once we agree it's good for Riley to step aside, we should probably get on to negotiating the schedule of his return. Because if the Heat get really good at any point soon, recent history dictates that Riley is likely to want to be on the sidelines again.
We have been here before.
Pat Riley came to the Heat in 1995, and had six straight winning seasons. In 2001-2002 (that was a team of Rod Strickland, Eddie Jones, and Alonzo Mourning), things started to slip a little, and they didn't get any better the next year, as the team had 36, and then 25 wins in consecutive years.
That roster was depleted, and full of players who were either too young to count on (Caron Butler), undrafted (Mike James), or slowed by injury (Brian Grant).
A few days before the 2003-2004 season started, Riley stepped down as coach, handing the job to his assistant Stan Van Gundy.
And Van Gundy took Lamar Odom, Eddie Jones, Rafer Alston, and rookie Dwyane Wade to the playoffs. A year later, Dwyane Wade was emergent, and Shaquille O'Neal was in the house. The Heat almost won the East.
21 games into the following season, when the Heat were a trendy pick to win the East, Stan Van Gundy stepped aside, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family (and, of course, has more recently become the very effective coach of the Orlando Magic). As Van Gundy stepped aside, there was no mystery about who would run the team. Riley had already told reporters he missed coaching, and was more than up for the job.
Then, Riley won a title. Well done!
The following season, the Heat were in disarray. There was bickering. There were injuries. There were conditioning issues. Just after the dawn of 2007, the defending champions were 13-18, and it didn't look good.
At that time, Pat Riley had two surgeries, including a hip replacement he had reportedly been putting off for years. Ron Rothstein took over for what ended up being only a few weeks out of action. But it's worth noting that Riley was in no mood to rush back at the outset, saying his medical departure was open-ended. He gave himself an out -- but returned to coach a team that did scrape its way into the playoffs.
Now, look, I know Pat Riley is older now. I know that he has obligations in the front office that demand a lot of his time. I know that people have long been writing articles like this, questioning Riley's commitment to the craft of coaching.
I know there are a million reasons to believe that this time, it will be different.
But, if Riley the executive can pull the right strings, this whole thing could happen again, couldn't it?
The Heat already have Dwyane Wade, Udonis Haslem, and maybe Shawn Marion. If those three can get healthy and happy playing together, that's a nice start. If the team can parlay its various draft picks and future cap space into something, then this miserable 15-67 team could be back at the top of the conference in a couple of years.
Reports are that "the Stan Van Gundy of 2008" -- the assistant who takes over for Riley when he gets tired of running a lousy roster -- will be Erik Spoelstra. Spoelstra is very high regarded. I hope he does well, and expect he will.
But if Spoelstra does very well, I wonder if Riley will be able to leave the coaching job alone.
