The Five Best Pat Riley Quotes From His Wild Postseason Press Conference

With the Miami Heat’s season ending in a seven-game loss to the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals, the focus in South Florida now shifts to the offseason and a number of questions facing Miami’s roster.

Sixth Man of the Year Tyler Herro is extension eligible this summer and also wants to start next season, but questions remain about his two-way value. Duncan Robinson was benched in the playoffs coming off of a $90 million extension of his own last summer that puts his exact role with the Heat in question. PJ Tucker has a player option for next year but could enter free agency and seek out a bigger deal after showing once again his value to a contender, and Victor Oladipo could do the same.

The man who will be making those decisions is Pat Riley, as the 77-year-old president of the Heat spoke to the media about the season that was and offseason to come on Monday and offered up some, let’s just say, colorful commentary on his team, and here we’re going to highlight the five most interesting quotes. (An honorable mention goes to him saying Kyle Lowry needs to be in better shape next year.)

5. “As far as [Tyler Herro] being the starter, come to training camp and win it.”

Riley wasn’t shy about offering honest critiques of players, from saying Lowry needed to be in better shape to suggesting Tyler Herro put on 10 pounds of muscle and simply come to camp next fall and win the starting job. Nothing Riley said about either player was wrong or even that scathing a critique, it’s just that you don’t often get that kind of honesty from executives, but then again, that’s one of the benefits (depending on your outlook) of having a 77-year-old Hall of Famer running your franchise. The question, of course, is whether Herro and Lowry will appreciate the tough love approach, because while it could be a motivator it also can lead to some discontent.

4. “The dragon hasn’t left my body yet from the loss.”

How is Pat Riley handling the Eastern Conference loss? Not real well! He’s still mad about it and wasn’t ready to fully shift focus to the offseason, but did say he’s slowly getting over it when asked if he plans to see through this team build to the end or if he had any plans to step down soon.

3. “I’m 77 years old and I can do more pushups than you right now. If you wanna go we can go to the mat right now.”

In that same answer about whether he wants to stick around, Riley challenged Ira Winderman to a pushup contest to prove he’s still got plenty in the tank, proving that he is the team executive most like Izzy Mandelbaum. Don’t ask Pat if he’s retiring soon unless you are ready to defeat him in a physical fitness competition.

2. “[Bam]’s always getting somebody open. Duncan should give him half his check. Tyler should pay him half his check. Max should give him half his check.”

I know this is mostly a compliment of Bam for all he does for the offense without having to be a great scorer himself, but there is nothing like admitting your entire shooting guard rotation can’t create shots for themselves by saying they should be paying the center half their salary for all the work he does springing them open. Maybe this hints just a touch at where the Heat will be looking to make improvements in the future, because if the guy in charge thinks all those guys are that dependent on screens to free them up, he might be looking to diversify their offense so they aren’t as reliant on Bam creating space for perimeter players.

1. “I run it back with my wife every week.”

HEY-YO! This was the quote that just about everyone thought was a fake quote but ended up being real. Riley would go on to offer a real answer about how running it back is tempting but they always have a goal of a title in mind and will be realistic about whether this roster can win them one.

I’m sure Mrs. Riley will be thrilled.