Sep. 6--SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -
His legacy belongs to the Los Angeles Lakers.
So Thursday, the day before he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Pat Riley reveled in the nostalgia alongside Magic Johnson, Byron Scott, Jamaal Wilkes, A.C. Green and others who turned Showtime into a phenomenon in the '80s.
"I carry every one of those players inside of me," the Heat president said of the reunion that touched him as deeply as any moment during these three days of tribute. "I got involved with a team at a time that team was maturing into one of the great teams in the history of the game."
Four titles later with a Lakers roster oozing charisma, Riley's coaching star was undeniable.
Yet Friday, as he prepared to offer the final speech of a night that also would feature the inductions of playing greats Patrick Ewing, Hakeem Olajuwon and Adrian Dantley, as well as women's coaching legend Cathy Rush, broadcaster Dick Vitale and Pistons owner William Davidson, Riley spoke of the cherished keepsakes he would leave behind at the Hall.
The mementos he spoke most proudly of were not from that coaching start in Los Angeles or his coaching midpoint in New York, but rather his coaching finish line in South Florida.
"I sent them the suit that I wore in Dallas, June 20th, '06, navy blue, same tie, same shirt," he said of attire he wore when the Heat won its lone NBA title. "And I gave them my championship ring from 2006."
There were other artifacts, as well, including those from the Lakers days, that will be part of his enshrinement display. And there are enough replica 2006 rings, that he still was wearing one at his induction ceremony.
But by creating a time capsule rich in remainders from 2006, Riley made it clear that these past 13 years in South Florida have been about more than living on legacy, that a coach who had not won a title since 1988 not only again became a champion, but had legitimized what would turn into Friday's coronation.
"I truly believe," he said, "what happened in Miami validated what probably a lot of people felt I might not be able to do, that what I did in New York and what I did in L.A. maybe was because there was just a lot of good players."
These past 13 years, Riley stressed, have not been an afterthought, and even with Lakers icons Jerry West and Johnson his choices to present him for induction, should not be taken as an inconsequential postscript.
