Pat Riley Named To NBA’s Top 15 Coaches Of All-Time

Pat Riley has been named one of the NBA’s Top 15 Coaches of All-Time after previously being named one of the 10 Best Coaches of All-Time in 1996. His career accolades include:

-No. 5 on the all-time wins list, regular season, with 1,210 victories
-No. 2 on the all-time wins list, postseason, with 171 victories
-Eleven-time Coach of the Month
-Three-time Coach of the Year
-Nine-time All-Star Game Coach
-Started with the Los Angeles Lakers as an assistant coach from 1979-1982
-Promoted to head coach before the 1981 season at 36-years old, winning 50 games – his lowest win total in nine seasons with L.A. – and going 12-2 in the playoffs en route to an NBA Championship
-Won four titles with the Lakers, including back-to-back in the 86-86 and 87-88 seasons
-Became head coach of the New York Knicks in 1991, improving the team 12 wins over the previous year as the Knicks ran off 223 wins in four seasons, including an appearance in the NBA Finals in 1993-94
-Joined the Miami HEAT as head coach and team president in 1995, trading for Alonzo Mourning before his first season began and winning 61 games in his second year after acquiring Tim Hardaway at the previous trade deadline.
-Stepped back from head coaching for the 2003-04 and 2004-05 seasons, returned in 2005-06 and won the NBA Championship
-Final season as head coach was 2007-08, finishing his coaching career with five championships, nine trips to the NBA Finals, a .636 winning percentage in the regular season, averaging 50.4 wins and .606 win rate in the playoffs
-In Riley’s nine seasons with Los Angeles, the Lakers had an average Offensive Rank of 1.7 and Defensive Rank of 8.5
-In four seasons with New York, the Knicks had an average Offensive Rank of 16.2 and Defensive Rank of 1.25
-In 11 seasons with Miami, the HEAT had an average Offensive Rank of 18.5 and Defensive Rank of 8.2.
-All put together, Riley’s teams had an average Offensive Rank of 11.8 and Defensive Rank of 7.2 across 24 seasons