A Flashback To Pat Riley’s Demands To Join the Miami Heat Organization
Sports Illustrated’s Chris Herring was recently on Twitter Spaces in The ReWind Space and talked about his New York Times Best Selling book, Blood in the Garden.
During the conversation, Herring talked about the demands that Heat team president Pat Riley wanted to join the Heat organization in 1995.
“He [Pat Riley] fought tooth and nail for everything down to a $300 per day payment per diem from the Heat,” Herring said. “When he laid out a 14-point memo of what he wanted from the Miami Heat because he was trying to get to Miami. He literally asked for 10 percent ownership stake immediately, and another 10 percent to be paid overtime. He asked for a loan to cover the interest payments they would have for the ownership stake and then on top of all that, he wanted Miami to buy his home in New York, so he would not be on the hook for that, and he wanted a limo.”
The moved has turned out to be beneficial for the Heat. The Knicks have made the Finals once in 1999 after Riley’s departure but the Heat have been to the Finals six times under Riley and won three of them.
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“He went to Miami for that contract when he was already highest paid head coach in the league,” Herring said. “In a time where the Knicks were already offering to double his salary that was already the highest in the league. It obviously not a finesse because can look at the track record of the two franchises since then, and say it was worth it. However, it crazy how far he went and what he asked for and how much of a pioneer he was, I do not even think you can pioneer because he is the only that has gotten what he asked for.”
Landon Buford is a contributor to Inside The Heat. He can be reached at [email protected]
