Being Pat Riley doesn’t happen by accident. One does not come to flaunt the level of cache the veteran NBA boss does without being willing to make tough decisions, then enforce even tougher bylaws to make certain they are fiercely adhered to.
And so, there stood Riles this week, mere hours after what he feels is the vastly premature reported death of a dynasty, laying it all out for all to digest and decipher, particularly four-time league MVP and self-anointed Chosen One LeBron James.
“This stuff is hard and you got to stay together,” Riley admonished in a not so veiled reference to his Big 3 of James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, all of whom have early termination clauses in their Heat pacts this season that could allow them to walk away as free agents. “You don’t find the first door and run out of it. I think we need to have a perspective about things. I think everybody needs to get a grip.”
Grandmaster that he is, Riley couldn’t have been any more arm-twisting than if he had simply walked to the podium and uttered ‘Ok King James’ the ball is in your court. And remember this ain’t Cleveland.
In short, it’s time LeBron James took a stance; took a stance about who he is as opposed to who he could be. Translation? The time has come and gone for the best player in the game to seek other franchises and other players to earn him what he wants and most distinguishes him. Yes, winning is the most important thing, but when you’re King James they way you do so has to run a close second.
“What happened last year with San Antonio,” Riley reflected of the way Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili all stayed the course in the wake of their seven-game, gut-wrenching defeat in South Beach to bounce back this season more determined, resilient and together than ever.
“I had kisses all over my face when we won,” Riley added of the euphoria born of the Heat’s back to back titles. “Yesterday, it was just a handshake. I didn’t come down here 19 years ago for a quick trip to South Beach and a sun tan. And I don’t think they did either.”
Such is the wizardry of Pat Riley, even as he jabbed he was certain to guide and cajole.
“He has the right to do whatever he wants to do,” he said of James, fully realizing if James’s legacy truly comes to be anything like he longs for it to be the perennial All-Star really has but one choice.
It’s time for LeBron James to perform as he never has before and that means staying the course and setting his team on a path only he has wholly engineered.
