Before Pat Riley was orchestrating legendary rosters, he was one of the best coaches the league has ever seen. He was the man responsible for leading the Los Angeles Lakers to four NBA championships in the 1980s. Although he was amazing when it came to tactics, nothing could beat his pregame speeches.
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Before Riley became a head coach, he played in the NBA for nine years. He experienced firsthand from a player’s perspective how important it is to enter a game motivated. When he became a coach, he ensured that it developed into one of his strong suits.
Of course, all NBA players want to win. However, each player has their own source of motivation. Some athletes prioritize money, while others may prioritize stats. It takes a great coach to make sure everyone is on the same page and that is precisely what Riley was able to do.
Cedric Ceballos only played 27 games under Riley in the 2000-01 season with the Miami Heat. In that short sample size, he realized why many consider Riley to be one of the best coaches in NBA history.
“How do you bring your emotions down after his pregame speeches?” Ceballos said on Byron Scott’s Fast Break. “I wanted to run through a wall every time he opened his mouth to speak.”
Ceballos was sharing his experience with Byron Scott, a vital member of Riley’s Showtime Lakers. While Ceballos only played 27 games alongside Riley, Scott played for Riley for seven seasons. He was present for all three of the Lakers’ titles.
He didn’t show any signs of pushback toward Ceballos’ comments, in fact admitting that it pushed it to the brink, where winning was the only result that mattered.
“I never brought my emotions down,” Scott revealed. “I wanted to go out there and kill somebody.”
The 6-foot-4 guard reached his full potential under Riley’s tutelage. In the 1987-88 season, Scott averaged 21.7 points, which was a career-high that helped spearhead the Lakers to their last title in the Riley era.
Throughout the years, Scott has been adamant about Riley’s status as a coach. In 2001, when Heat players criticized Riley, Scott adamantly came to the defense of his former coach.
He’d do anything for his players to make them feel more at home; he wanted everything first class. For guys to come back at him like this is ludicrous to me,” Scott said in an interview with the New York Times.
Now, isn’t that some legacy to leave behind?
