Pat Riley | 2024-25 End-Of-Season Press Conference | May 9, 2025

Pat Riley | 2024-25 End-Of-Season Press Conference | May 9, 2025

Let’s sort of pick up exactly a year ago where we left off. You sat there challenged Jimmy Butler to play more games to maybe watch what he says and concentrate on winning. After that in December, you issued a statement saying Jimmy Butler would not be traded. You suspended him three times after that. And your very players who sat there just a week ago said that greatly impacted their season. one, your thoughts on how you approached it both a year ago, how you approached it during the season, and how much of an impact do you think that overall had on the direction and the type of season we’re coming off of? I don’t think what I said uh you last year really was uh relevant. Uh I simply said softly no. And uh and uh I’m a person that uh in all the teams that I did coach, when you lose, you take your loss and you go home and you and you’re quiet, you know. But there wasn’t trolling back in that day, you know. So, um there’s no doubt that what happened with with Jimmy had a tremendous uh impact on our team. There’s no doubt about it. So, uh, the buck stops with me. I’ll take that hit if you want it. Uh, what happened during the regular season? I don’t want to really discuss. I remember this about Jimmy. I remember the bubble when he was hanging over the scorers table exhausted and trying to win a title. I remember that. I have that in my my office, that picture. You know, I remember the exit meeting that we had when we got swept by the Bucks the next year. He wasn’t very happy guy. I don’t even know if he came in. Maybe it was my maybe a minute. I said, “Go home or go wherever you go.” And then one of my favorite moments with Jimmy was the rebound he had with nine seconds to go in the third year against Boston in the seventh game here and I was sitting with Chris and I remember we’re going to win this game and we’re going to play Golden State. He rebounded it on the left side of the court. He dribbled up left-handed. He crossed over to the right side of the court. He got right to his spot and he raised on a three. He could have taken Horford, but he probably wouldn’t have got a call at that time of the game. You know, especially today, you know how they’re refereeing games. And so I remember I said I stood up as he was dribbling up. I said, “This is going to go in and we’re going to go to the finals again.” And he just missed a little bit to the left. And the next year, you know, the the playin and the great run we had to the finals out of the playin, I think it was six games at Denver. And uh he played his ass off, his heart out for us. And you know, the last year and a half, you know, it wasn’t the same. He got hurt against Philadelphia. We didn’t have them. uh in when we got uh four out of five against Boston, but and then there was uh this year. So, no, I’m not going to apologize for saying no on a contract extension when we didn’t have to and I don’t think I should. And uh and I will always say that to the players. Uh if I was coaching, you know, keep your mouth shut. I’ll see you next training camp and you get it back, you know, on the court. But it’s different today with players. So, anyhow, that’s uh that’s what I want to talk about with Jimmy. I’ve been through uh those kinds of situations before, even with this team a couple times. Uh and so it’s over. He’s done. I wish him well. Good luck to him, and I hope deep down in his heart somewhere he wishes us well, too. Then, just to follow up on that, um so you you have to follow up on that. Go ahead. It’s not related to that directly. So, a move is made because the move apparently had to be made. Why was the trade not made more forward thinking in terms of a reset? I only ask because the Warriors pick is this year and then it’s into the wind. Uh Andrew Wiggins is 30. Kyle Anderson will be 32. DaVon Mitchell could leave as a free agent. In other words, was there any thought of that being a reset point? And what was the thinking behind the trade? No, the the thinking was to make the best deal we could because we were, you know, we were pretty much locked in with with one team. Uh, you know, the team of his choice. Uh, it didn’t happen there, but it happened somewhere else. But I I’ve done this 13 times in 29 years. If you want a 30 minute dissertation on those 13 rebuilds, we’d be here a half hour, an hour. So going back to Zo’s acquisition, you know, right through Jimmy Butler, there’s always been contender, maybe a championship, maybe adding the player you needed like Shaquille and Enzo, then the big three, and then it was Shane. It took a year to get Shane and then Ray and and Chris Anderson. And so you don’t just win it with one guy. Uh and so we we took the deal that we felt was best for us now and also in the future. Uh we have a lot of young players. Uh we have some medium-aged, you know, players in their prime. You know, our our draft picks are in better order than what they were. And so we have a lot of flexibility. And that’s uh that’s where the blueprint’s going to come from this summer. Uh I’ve always met already met with Eric and and talked to Andy and talked to Adam about things and so now it’s on to the off season. You don’t have a followup again, do you? I do, but I don’t. Um You’re welcome. You guys obviously have high high standards. You have you have high standards for obviously what you guys do. Yeah. you what happened in that first round series. Do you feel like that is reflective kind of where this is and do you think major changes are needed? No. To get back to where Well, I think we do have to make changes. There’s there’s no doubt there has to be some change. And so until you change the way you go about doing the things that you do to win, if you don’t win, you have to go about making changes to make sure that you can win. I don’t know if that makes sense to you or not, but uh you know change is the highest form of sanity. It’s in the present moment right now. We know what we have have to do. We know what we just experienced. We were not that team uh in games four and uh three and four. We were not that team. The score said differently. Uh, I saw a team that 25 times had double-digit leads that had our crowd, one of the best crowds in the league up in the air, you know, with 20 25 point leads. And you know why we had 18 point leads in the fourth quarter, uh, you know, or double digit leads 18 times in the fourth quarter and we lost 14 of them. Uh, that’s more reflective of who we are. a very very competitive team, a great group of guys that we need to find an answer uh to secure the great play. I think coach talked about it best when he said is about consistency and sustaining the consistency um creating a different edge defensively. I’m not talking about being a good defensive team. I’m talking about creating an edge defensively, if you know what I’m talking about. We got to have that. We don’t play with the edge all the time and uh but we’re not reflective of that. Anthony, you know, I think um those two losses were humbling and they might have put the final nail in thinking that we got to tear everything apart and rebuild. We’ve never done that. 13 times we’ve always found a way to rebuild the team that was respected, that was a contender. Uh you know, 24 times the playoffs. I’m not trying to pat myself on the back. I’m just giving you the numbers because, you know, 24 times in the playoffs, you know, and I only tried to tank twice and I was successful at it. Not really successful in the Wade year, but I was successful in in 2008, but I never told anybody I was going to try to tank. I always said we’re going to win, but we’re tanking. Not really, but we were. But we but twice, you know, the rest of the times, you know, there’s been, you know, seven finals and 12 Eastern Conference finals. It’s been three championships and stuff. So, we have I think uh and I don’t do this in a vacuum, you know, we have a great front office and uh we make decisions together. We plan and and we plot together. And so, I’m going to live on my track record. That’s all I can live on. If you want me to give you the 13 times, we’ll be here for a long time. But but we’ve done this before. Pat, two years ago, this team went to the finals. No, no, you’re going to ask me. You always ask me the retirement question. No, Dave Hyde’s gonna do this because we talk on the way in. So, you guys got together, had a little team meeting. Okay, here we go. Sorry, Dave. I’m sorry, man. It’s the first thing that came to my mind. Tim’s question. No, go ahead. You went to the finals two years ago with the lowest scoring team in the league. So, it’s obviously not always about offense, but the last three years have been 30th, 26th, and 24th, I think, in scoring. Where do you find more offense for this group because obviously it’s just not enough. Well, I think I think you know, coach u I haven’t talked to him about it uh yet because Eric has been doing this for 30 years, you know, intensely as the video coordinator up to being my main assistant coach. 17 straight years of coaching. So, he’s been like here for 30 years. never to take took a year off, never takes a break. He’s had some issues in his life, personal issues, and I see the strain and stress on him like I’ve never seen it before. This this this takes a toll. And when I talked to him the other day, he said he was going to Hawaii. I said, “Good. I’ll see you in training camp then.” You know, but that’s not going to happen. But he needs a break and and he needs time to reflect. He’s the head coach, you know. I mean, I could give him my playbook from 2006 or seven, but it’s archaic, but it’s not. But, um, he he’ll figure this out. He knows we need to first we need to defend and we need to, uh, he needs to make whatever kind of changes he needs to make when it comes to, uh, to the offense. And we’ll talk about that. You know, if he wants to listen to me, he will. If he doesn’t, he has he has a lot of great people working for him. Yeah. To follow up, you made reference to when you clearly weren’t tanking in 2008. Of course, there was a plan then. There was a plan for 2010 and guys were becoming free agents and there was a lot of them that summer and you were going to get two or three of them some way somehow. It’s different now. Yeah. Guys don’t go into free agency. How much more difficult does that make this 13th rebuild when there’s not the guy you can save up for and go get him because everything’s now done with extensions and trades and all these things and you need a dance partner to execute the move the moves that you want to make. How much harder does that does that make it? Well, first of all, I’m going to correct you. Uh this 14th and and they weren’t rebuilds. They were all retools or tweaks or whatever word we wanted to use that season. Uh yeah, the rules have changed. We could plan back then before the CBA was uh changed. uh you could pretty much plan back then in 2006, you know, for 2010 and and and the fact that those three names or four names or five names that were all in that year of their contract and were going to become free agents, you know, you’re looking forward and you’re always seeing what might be available out there. You don’t know. and but we planned for that and we ended up delivering big time on it and and we had a great run with it. So now because of all of these different CBA minations, you know, that have to do with repeater tax and the first apron and the and the second apron and the penalties that come with it. uh there’s a different thought process and you’re right about free agency is that you know free a you know there’s a lot of unrestricted free agents. There’s a lot of you know restricted free agents that are on the board. Uh, but we’re not a room team this year and it would take a couple years to become a room team, but you know, if there’s a a superstar out there that would want to come here, if you had the room, $70 million a room or something, and they take it all, it’d be a little bit like what happened when we got the big three. We didn’t have anything left and we let bees uh we traded bees to Minnesota and and and there’s no doubt that uh you know that getting Udonis you know back and Mike Miller those guys Joel Anthony and and Mario that’s what we had and so everything else with a was a minimum contract and so it’s it’s a little bit different in how you plan now for that it could come through trades it could come through the addition of one or two very good players Uh there’s always still going to be with us uh improvement from within, but I don’t think we can go there. We probably won’t run it back, but it doesn’t mean that, you know, I mean, miracles aren’t players aren’t just going to show up. I mean, you have to make deals. You have to look at the board. You got to try to do something that’s going to benefit with something with your team and your two key guys if they’re your key guys, and I think they are, plus uh you know, a lot of other players. So, I think we’re probably in as good a situation as we could have ever been from a draft pick, young player, uh, favorable contract situation, uh, in a long time and especially at a time in the market that’s hard to plan like you’re saying because things will be spontaneous. But uh we’re we’re going to work at trying to really really find something that u that will help this team uh that might come from without and if it doesn’t then then it might take a year as I said over those 13 years it doesn’t happen in one year you know I mean when we drafted Karan at number 10 and then we got the next year we got Wade and then we got Udonis you know then we got Lamar ODM we had Eddie Jones and we had Brian Grant. Grant and you know Stan took that team to the second round and we saw in Dwayne Wade wow in two years and we finally said okay let’s go after somebody else and I didn’t go after Shaquille I mean he just popped up and um and so we ended up winning the championship but that wasn’t good enough then we had to go out and get uh you know Jay Will and we had to get Antoine we had to get Pose and and the last one was you know playing blackjack with Gary Payton in Vegas and he said yes, you know, so it’s a process. Uh but I’m not going to deal with a long process and nor is ownership. Yes, Dave, there was no uh Oh, he got under the bus. He was asked when you were 70, when you’re 75, now you’re 80. And I mean, it’s a sports question. Yeah, it is. Yeah. Is passion still there? Obviously, we’re listening to you. There’s no um backing off the challenge ahead. But do I have any cognitive uh problems here, you think, or what? I don’t know. Only you can jo judge on that. I just turned 80 and I’m proud of it. And the new 80 is the new 60. So, I mean, that’s how I look at it. I feel great. You know, I I’m competitive as hell. I love I love being in in the bowl. I’m an Irish guy. Um, and so there’s uh a depressive disorder that I have by being just Irish and and hating losing because it makes me miserable. When you’re miserable, you get a little bit depressed. We all have that in us. All of us have a depressive disorder in us when things go bad. But I got a little depressed after those last two games. But go ahead. I’m sorry, Dave. That was your answer to the question. You still have a passion. Yeah, absolutely. and uh Mickey and Nick and I met uh uh they’ve been very good to me. Uh they said, “Carry on Pat, you know, and and I’m going to carry on and and try to make this thing better.” I do like uh unlike uh the narrative out there that has, you know, our team, you know, pretty bad if you take a look at what’s going on in the playoffs right now. I don’t compare anything apples to oranges or anything like that with what’s happening to other teams, but it’s a weird league. You know, you got 20 point leads and you lose at the buzzer, you know. I mean, it’s it’s just things are going on in this league offensively and also defensively that that you have to take a real good look at and see how your team, you know, you know, pairs up with with that. And so, an attitude adjustment every now and then is good. And as I talked about earlier about change, until you change something, then the same thing’s going to happen. And so we have to make some changes philosophically and also maybe even personnel wise. You you you were born after me. You don’t get to you don’t get to speak. I’m just kidding. You don’t I don’t want to lose the Gen Z people. Are y’all millennials? I don’t want to lose you. Uh, another player when you were here last year, uh, you talked about Tyler and especially when, you know, he played about 40 42 games last year and obviously went into the gym and had his best season in the NBA yet. Can you just kind of talk about what you’ve seen from him this season? And with him being, you know, extension eligible in October, is that something you want to get done? I will I I will steal one of Spo’s favorite spoisms, Ignitable. He’s he’s one of the most ignitable guys offensively in the league and we’re happy to have him. He’s 25 26 years old. He’s coming off an all-star year and he was voted in by the coaches. That means something. And um and so he’s he’s pivotal for us as an offensive player. We just need more uh around him that can do a little bit of what he does because now he’s getting beat up. He’s getting schemed, overly schemed, and and so we’ll learn a lot about that. And so, you know, Tyler is a player and I hope he could stay here the rest of his career and that we can build the team that he’s part of because you’ve seen him at the end of games. My god, you see me in the fourth quarters, but now when you’re in a position of having two on the ball all the time and you’re getting picked up full court 94 feet and I know for a fact that that Tyler was telling Max, could you use some Listerine, please or something like that because he faceguarded them all over the court and it’s it’s a whole another world that he’s in now. And so, uh, people will sacrifice so much on on defense just to to wear them out that sometimes it’s strange for your other four players to say, “God, we can’t even get him the ball.” And stuff. So, those are the things that coaches is very good at and has to, you know, has to really, you know, identify and reconcile. And then Tyler simply has to he has to learn how to be a great player like like Steph is when he gets that treatment and to be able to still score and those there’s going to be nights when he’s going to have those four for 20 games. He’s just one of those guys. But I’m glad that we got him. You know, got Ian Bam at the right time and and we’ll move forward with that. Yeah, you you brought it up a few questions ago when Tim asked, but the repeater tax you guys have been a luxury the repeater tax. You brought you’ve been a luxury tax team for the last two seasons and now that brings the the I think we have to make an adjustment, Anthony. Um you don’t want to be in four years in a row or four out of five, you know, otherwise it gets it gets pretty punitive financially. Um so we’re in two years now. Um I think next year our number has us with 13 players as being nine under the tax or something. Um and then the year after that you know if one contract is gone you you’ll be you’ll have a whole lot of room. So I I think we can handle that. uh this is not a priority but it is in order how in order uh to manage your your the financial part of the team and the roster is important. And so um there’s a couple of teams that simply are so far over that they will start feeling the punitive uh uh consequences of draft picks being frozen or dropped to third or whatever. But, uh, I I think we’ll probably try to get out and then get back in, reset it. The sort of model of the NBA has changed because of the aprons and the tax and everything that maybe big threes are harder to do because of the the contracts, uh, going back to um, the question that Zachary asked. Um, when you get to Tyler’s extension window in October and his max salary, can this team afford to make a decision in that window already having BAM at that level with, I assume, the thought that you probably need one more top tier player to get to the highest possible level. In other words, how does the timing on Tyler work? And can you afford to max him in today’s NBA economy? I think he answered that question perfectly last year. I mean, last week I think you asked him that question. I think he answered it perfectly. He’s okay. I’ve talked about with Tyler and so, you know, we’ll see what happens as we as we plan. You know, the numbers are getting pretty big for a lot of guys, you know, and and you know, max salaries in this league. Uh, you know, who do they go to? I mean, who do they go to? And who is really, if you’re going to make $70 million a year, who are those five guys that or 10 that deserve that? But but definitely Tyler is deserving of uh of that of the thought of uh of an extension. But are we going to do it? We haven’t committed to it, but we’re going to discuss it. And I’ve already talked to him about it. He’s cool. You talk about uh Bam and Tyler and obviously no no no argument that their success stories and they’re both in their 20s now. You had Dwayne later in his career, you had Shaq later in his career, you had Jimmy later in his career. Are you comfortable with the idea of sort of managing an aging star again at this point? Or would you rather pivot to something younger as you build with Bam and Tyler? Well, I I I think if you take a look at the Warriors, you know, with Draymond and Steph and Jimmy, you got, you know, three 35, 36, 37 year old guys that that it’s a perfect time for them, uh, and how they met, uh, and now their contracts are all equal and even with Steve Kerr, they’re all equal. So, they want to make this run at it. And I think I think an aging great great player, you know, who may may not be able to carry, you know, a team together, they can rise to the occasion in the playoffs. You know, Steph’s injury might hurt them a little bit, but I saw something very unique with that team. And so for us, yes. I mean, if that player is the right name and the contract is the right length, yeah, I still think that an aging player can can play. Look at LeBron. I mean, look at these players, though. It’s incredible that, you know, players like LeBron and others that have played into their mid to late 30s and produced at a high level can help teams win. championships, you know, and you have to pick out the right one. And but I’m I’m not against that. No. Given the team being in the playin in the last few years and you making the point about being open to star power, like what do you believe would be the most urgent step to take the team from being a playin contender the last few years to contending for a championship again? Well, we actually made the playoffs with the exception of one year. Okay. So, we were a playoff team those two playin years, the first two playin years. We just they just changed the rules on making it a little more interesting for nine and 10. And so, this year we were 10th. We were a playin team this year that and I think those two games, you know, they were great at Chicago, at Atlanta, you know, give us a Hian moment. Okay, they were the Hian moment. Okay. Now, when we went to when we went to Cleveland that second game, you know, it was almost reminding me like we’re going to do the same thing we did to Boston, you know, the year before, get one and then maybe try to put some pressure on them. But they were too good at that time uh for that to happen. Too committed at that time. And uh and so being, you know, being a playin team, it’s it’s what it is. What’s the other part of that question that you asked? The most urgent thing that you want to team from that area. Well, make the make the roster better, make the offense better, make the defense better, and hope that we can get, you know, home court advantage, you know, mean anything anymore. To me, it always does because I go back in history and I remember the times that we didn’t get that last game or we tied somebody and we didn’t get the home court and we lost. So, it means something to me. The regular season means a lot to me and it means a tremendous amount to the fans to come every night and see guys playing the game. And so, uh, we have to elevate ourselves up out of the playin to try to get to, you know, three or four, two, three, four. And so, you got at least that that edge a little bit. But now I’m thinking that um that rest is overrated. That all those teams that had a week off, they’re down 02, you know, and you take a look at the aging uh you know, Warriors, God bless them. Uh my philosophy about conditioning and you know how I am about conditioning is I believe that once a player gets in world class condition and then he he gets into playoff conditioning by playing 35 to 40 minutes the last month of the season and then he gets into the playoffs. You’re playing every 48 hours and your body as a professional athlete, a a professional athlete who is geared to play big minutes. Every 48 hours, you need to you need to you need to move. You need to go. And and if you see how Golden State’s playing, they’re fresher. They’re running. They’re quicker. They’re in condition. And some of the teams that have some rust, they got to kick, you know, the rust off of it. So, um, you know, that’s just sort of how I feel about the whole thing. You know, I don’t know how I got on this subject, but anyhow, don’t let me keep rambling. Pat, you mentioned a little bit about the narratives that have been out there. Uh, one of them was a lot of former players talking heads on television saying that the Heat way doesn’t necessarily work anymore, that today’s player doesn’t want that. What have you thought about some of those things thrown out there? And and do you think that it still relates to today’s player? It doesn’t relate to me or us. It’s a narrative uh put out there on the part of other people that don’t know what it’s like inside here. Um you know, working behind the scenes, there’s two ways to do it. You can work behind the scenes and put in the time and you work you can work behind the scenes and put in the work. There’s two different things in there. And so, uh our culture has been the way it has been since I got here. And at least that’s how I look at it. Has it been adjusted in some way, shape or form? Yes. And you have to for the this generational player and and for the leg. But no, I’m proud of the culture. Uh I’m I’m I’m proud of the environment that we have created over the years for everybody here inside who really know it and and for the people outside who don’t really know it but want to comment on it because it’s fashionable to comment on it and criticize it to hell with them. We got a great culture. it hasn’t been crushed. And just because there was some uh some issues this year that that were not culture oriented, they were player oriented. You know, I’m talking about the Butler situation, whatever you want. Our culture is the same. And it’s a work culture. I believe in that statement. I know you’re going to throw up if I say it. Hardest working, best condition, most professional, unselfish, toughest, nastiest, dislike team in the league. About four of those things we weren’t this year. and we have to adjust those. I’ll never change my thoughts on that. Mr. Riley, I just wanted to ask Thank you. You know, I didn’t think we were on a first name. He never even called me Pat. Oh, that goes back, you know, 30 years. So, I just thought firstname basis is something maybe, you know, peers or something. But, uh, what I was going to say is with Greg Papovic’s health scare this year, a, how does that make you look at your own mortality because you guys are both synonymous with NBA history and just, you know, being with franchises for so long? And you mentioned this earlier, Eric Spolstra being stressed and uh, kind of like over the years with personal issues. He’s getting older. He comes from John older. He’s mid-50s, I mean, obviously, but like, you know, getting in the middle of his life. and his father is a former executive too. So, have you thought similar we’ve seen now with Mitch Johnson and um and Greg Papovic, Brad Stevens got worn out in Boston. Has there I guess you know what is the succession plan for maybe you him and just that in general? Yeah, for as far as Bo goes, he’s he’s in great shape. He just needs some time to decompress really. He just needs time. Every coach in this league after after a season, it is a grind. I mean, it really is a grind. I mean, it’s hockeyy’s a grind. You know, baseball, it’s a grind. Guys make a lot of money and they get judged for how much money they make versus the grind that they have to go through. And the NBA is hard. You You’re playing probably up to 100 games a year. And you’re on the road half the year. U you’re in at 3:00 am in the morning. It’s just it’s just a grind. It’s not hard, you know. I don’t feel sorry for anybody. It’s a great life. You get a great life out of it. You get to do what you want to do. But Spo is going to be fine. Uh when you talk about Pop, uh I’ve reached out to him. I love him dearly. Um you know, and um I wish him nothing but the best. Uh he’s he’ll be a great president. uh he’s he’s he’s beloved not only in San Antonio but throughout the league by players and that’s very unique. Um and when you talk about mortality, you know, you’ll find out 50 years from now, you know, you think about that as you know, you lose family and you lose siblings and you lose friends and you lose things and you’re managing health things, you know, it just happens. So get ready for it, you know? You know, I mean, or or you know, eat better right now. It’s what you want to do. But uh but yeah, when you when you when you think about it, I I go out and I have a lot of friends uh that are around my age that I’ve I’ve walked through this path with uh in basketball. And we have one rule when we go to dinner. No phones and no, we don’t talk about health and we have a great time with just one drink. I mean, back in the day, you could have like, okay, four martinis before you had dinner and then you’d have a two bottles of wine. Well, those days are over with. Okay. So, but anyhow, I appreciate your question, but uh I feel great and uh I wish nothing but the best for Pop and Spine. Yeah, question. Pat. Uh, one of the byproducts of Jimmy was everything see one of the byproducts of Jimmy Lee was Tyler and Bam taking on kind of that a 1A 1B 1A 1A whatever you want to call it role. Do you sense from what we saw the body of work post Jimmy that they can be those kind of alphas those those leaders that could lead a team to a championship or there needs to be another sort of alpha there with them? Well, you know, when when we made the trade uh to get Andre Iguadala, Solomon Hill, and Jay Crowder, uh we we didn’t have to send out an alpha to get them, but those three guys were so responsible for that finals run in the bubble. And so, there are some lateral trades you can make that could enhance uh the team. Uh, who’s to say who’s an alpha and who’s a beta, you know? I don’t know. Uh, Bam’s an alpha guy. He’s got an alpha personality and and Tyler has the alpha confidence of every, you know, the most confidence of somebody I’ve seen, almost rational confidence. And so that’s a good question, Will. And so, do we inject an alpha, a great great great player to help, you know, maximize our performance in those doubledigit leads that were lost in fourth quarter closures that that can make a difference. It could be that simple. Uh, from that standpoint, uh, I think one of the things you guys probably missed about Butler and myself is I’m an alpha, too. And he’s an alpha. And so when I think I am anyhow I’m not boasting that but you know when you get two alphas in the same room sometimes it doesn’t work but to answer your question that that is something that that you think about. I I think of an alpha as your best player your best player. Okay. And and your leader and and he’s the one that’s going to hold everybody accountable in all of those things above just being a great player. And so, you know, that comes with experience and that comes with time with some players. Sometimes an opportunity like uh that just happened this year. We don’t know, you know, maybe this is the window that, you know, our best players and even some of the guys that we brought in on the trade now they see I got some freedom. I don’t have to play with Steph and Draymond. I I or I’m not saying that in a negative way. Sometimes you get slotted into a place for six or seven years before you can get free. And um and then it’s the same thing with with Jimmy. He’s out he’s out in Golden State with with two major alphas, you know, and they all coincide with one another. So I I don’t want to this to go out there that you know what happened with Jimmy as ugly as it was that I didn’t appreciate him that I didn’t love this guy. You know it just those things happen. It wasn’t fun. And so when we talk about alphas I’m talking about players. I’m talking about stars. I’m talking about talent. And if that talent can help and he’s humble, then fine. Doesn’t make any difference. Me translates into winning, that’s all that counts, you know. Hey Pat, uh Chris Krauss, nice to meet you. Um in your book, you talked about style versus Is it the winner or is it the the winner book? Yeah. Name name me the 10 chapters. Uh where are we? Where are we? You know, where are we in that book? I I read it. I read it twice. Okay. Well, where are we chapter title in that book? Uh, that would be the first one. No, no, that’s the innocent climb. We are We are at Thunderbolts. That’s chapter four. And then with the news and then there’s a breakthrough. Yeah. So, sure. I think we’re at Thunderbolt time. Okay. Sir, go ahead. Okay. Yeah. I was going to ask you about, you know, you mentioned about style versus efficiency when it comes to players. Um, you can kind of take that line of thinking when it comes to teams, you know, team building and and looking around the league. um when different teams are kind of taking different styles like some willingly becoming losers and some you know in a tanking fashion and others trying to win in their own style. Do you think just trying to win is an inefficiency to exploit. Hit me again with what you just said. I understand what you’re just saying. I don’t know how to talk about tanking or losing or whatever. What was the last sentence you said? Yeah. it just like, you know, when you have teams that are trying to purposely lose or or that position, um that that eliminates some of the competition. So, yeah. Well, it benefits, you know, if you know you’re a bad team or a very very young team and and you know you’re going to be down there in the lottery, it’s how close you want to get to the lottery. How far down in the lottery can you get to the top five and or something like that? Because now the equality of, you know, the ping pong balls are pretty equal. One through what is it? four, one through four, they’re pretty equal. Um, you know, and so, uh, you know, those teams that take on that attitude, I think that’s one of the reasons why, you know, the playin, you know, I think it’s great. I think the the cup is great during the season. Andy actually, he and I, we talk about this all the time. He’s got a great idea. I don’t know if I should share it, you know, to make it even more competitive at the end. Is that Have you heard about it? you know, 50 games, the first 50 games, okay, they’re L’s or whatever they are. If you think you got a bad team and u and you’re not going anywhere and you can’t make the playoffs, but you’d rather have a better pick, however, but you don’t want to tank because it’s embarrassing for your fans and for you. Uh, so the first 50 games you get an L. Okay, in the last 32 games, okay, you get points for winning. And you combine the wins in the last 32 games with the L’s in the first 50. Now, at the end of the season, teams who won a lottery are going to get pluses for winning. Does that make sense? A little bit, doesn’t it? It’s not a bad idea. That’s an Andy idea. And so we we’ve been sort of talking about how the league can make it better and he’s on the competition committee and u I think he’s already laid that out to him and they sort of it’s not a bad idea. So it would stop that at the end of the game at the end of the season you get you get a plus if you win a game and that goes into where you are in in the lottery. So there’s a lot of different ideas of the contemporary game that I think can uh can enhance it. Yeah.

Pat Riley spoke to the media Friday, May 9 at his annual End-Of-Season Press Conference.

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