MIAMI -- Pat Riley resigned as coach of the Miami Heat on Friday, saying the team's rebuilding process is on track enough for him to step aside.
Riley ranks second in NBA history with 1,110 victories, and he led the Los Angeles Lakers to four championships in the 1980s. But the Heat missed the playoffs the past two years, finishing last in the Atlantic Division at 25-57 last season.
He will be replaced as Miami's coach by Stan Van Gundy (brother of Jeff and former basketball player at SUNY Brockport... just like a certain member of this forum...
), his top assistant the past several seasons.
"It's the first time I feel it's right in the last three years," Riley said. "It's right for me to. It's time."
The move is not health-related, Riley said, adding that he made the decision Wednesday.
He will stay on as the Heat's president.
Riley, 58, was voted one of the top 10 coaches in NBA history in 1996.
His 21 seasons running NBA teams include from 1981-90 with the Lakers, 1991-95 with the New York Knicks and 1995-03 with Miami. He was the NBA's Coach of the Year in 1990, 1993 and 1997.
Riley led the "Showtime" Lakers of Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to the 1982, 1985 and 1987-88 league titles. With the Knicks, he had more of a defense-oriented, bruising team that lost to Houston in the 1994 NBA Finals.
With the Heat, though, Riley never duplicated that sort of success. His Miami teams lost in the first round of the playoffs four times, and only made it as far as the Eastern Conference finals once, losing to Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls in 1997.
Riley ranks second in NBA history with 1,110 victories, and he led the Los Angeles Lakers to four championships in the 1980s. But the Heat missed the playoffs the past two years, finishing last in the Atlantic Division at 25-57 last season.
He will be replaced as Miami's coach by Stan Van Gundy (brother of Jeff and former basketball player at SUNY Brockport... just like a certain member of this forum...
), his top assistant the past several seasons."It's the first time I feel it's right in the last three years," Riley said. "It's right for me to. It's time."
The move is not health-related, Riley said, adding that he made the decision Wednesday.
He will stay on as the Heat's president.
Riley, 58, was voted one of the top 10 coaches in NBA history in 1996.
His 21 seasons running NBA teams include from 1981-90 with the Lakers, 1991-95 with the New York Knicks and 1995-03 with Miami. He was the NBA's Coach of the Year in 1990, 1993 and 1997.
Riley led the "Showtime" Lakers of Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to the 1982, 1985 and 1987-88 league titles. With the Knicks, he had more of a defense-oriented, bruising team that lost to Houston in the 1994 NBA Finals.
With the Heat, though, Riley never duplicated that sort of success. His Miami teams lost in the first round of the playoffs four times, and only made it as far as the Eastern Conference finals once, losing to Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls in 1997.
