Miami Heat president Pat Riley was slapped with a heavy fine following his comments concerning Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James. On June 9, the NBA announced Riley would have to pay $25,000 for violating the league’s anti-tampering rules.
The questionable comments stem from Riley’s appearance on Le Batard and Friends show on June 4, one day after the Lakers were eliminated from the playoffs in Game 6 by the Phoneix Suns.
Riley said that if LeBron ever wanted to return to South Beach, the door is open. “I would leave the key under the doormat if he would call and let me know he’s coming,” he said. “I would do that, but I doubt very much if that key… that key’s rusted now.”
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“LeBron is, look he’s one of the greatest of all time,” Riley continued. “And for four years down here, if we want to go back and just remember what those four years were like — four years in the Finals, four years of excitement, two world championships — with LeBron, Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade, Ray Allen, Shane Battier, Udonis [Haslem], all of them. It was the best time for the Heat.”
“So I wish him nothing but the best, and if he ever wanted to come back, then I’ll put a new shiny key under the mat.”
Getting fined by the NBA will not be a surprise for Riley. He actually mentioned during the interview that he might get fined by the league for tampering, as the 36-year-old former MVP is under contract in Los Angeles through the 2022-23 season.
GettyLeBron James #6 of the Miami Heat and Jae Crowder #9 of the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center on December 20, 2012.
After LeBron joined the Heat in 2010, Miami made four straight appearances in the NBA Finals, winning the title in both 2012 and 2013. In July 2014, LeBron announced he would return to play with the Cleveland Cavaliers. In 2018, King James joined the Lakers.
Riley Spoke About Adding a Third Big Name for Next Season
GettyBleacher Report ripped Miami Heat’s Bam Adebayo (R) and Jimmy Butler for being the biggest disappointments in the 2020-21 NBA playoffs.
While LeBron isn’t a possibility, the Heat need another All-Star to complement the team’s core that is Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo. With Victor Oladipo’s future still up in the air, and possibly up to $34 million in additional cap space if they release both Goran Dragic and Andre Iguodala, Riley could make a blockbuster move to sign a top-tier free agent this summer.
“We’ll see,” Riley said during his annual postseason media conference on June 3, as reported by Miami Herald‘s Barry Jackson. “The market will determine a lot of that as we move forward. I like the nucleus of our team. We have a great core with Jimmy [Butler] and Bam [Adebayo]; regardless of how they performed in the playoffs, we didn’t make a mistake on those guys.”
“I have a pretty good idea of what we have and where we are headed,” Riley said, “Despite the result of the Milwaukee series, which was bad… We are ready to move forward.”
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