Maybe the best compliment you can pay Pat Riley right now is to suggest this team reflects the personality of its boss. Which is exactly what Riley had in mind when he pushed enough of the right buttons to make a Heat appearance possible in these NBA Finals.
âPat is the man,â said swingman Jimmy Butler, the teamâs spiritual leader. âWe got a bunch of dogs on this team, and heâs the big dog.â
In their first meeting last summer, when he was weighing the decision to sign with the Heat as a free agent, Butler said Riley won him over in five minutes. That sounds about right. Whether itâs tossing championship rings on the table, or delivering compelling and stirring motivational talks, Riley usually gets his man. But that man must meet The Manâs standards, which, in hindsight, Butler surely has.
Walter Cornett, of Glendale, Kentucky, is the owner and operator of Walterâs Wildcat World. He founded WildcatWorld.com in 1998 making it one of the oldest Kentucky basketball fan sites in operation today.