Miami Heat legend Dwyane Wade gave a detailed answer when asked how he feels Heat president Pat Riley has adapted his management style over the years.
Riley, 80, has decades of experience in the basketball world, ranging from playing to coaching to serving as an executive.
“I think every generation that he’s been a coach in, he’s had to adapt,” Wade told the Miami Herald. “I don’t think he’s ever lost his true identity and that is something that you don’t want him to lose. I’ve talked about that very candidly. Yeah, there are some things that you look at it and you say, OK, there’s a little micromanaging going on. Micromanaging sometimes it feels petty. So if you’re petty and I’m petty, then we’re going to get petty. But I think along his time, he’s tinkered from the [Los Angeles] Lakers to New York and to Miami and the different generations in Miami. I definitely saw a different Pat from Day 1 when I walked in to the last day I was there. So there have definitely been adjustments, but he has not and the organization has not lost their true identity overall when it comes to how it’s run and what the culture looks like.”
He continued.
“So I think Pat has done as good of a job as anybody can to be in that position for so long and go through so many generations,” Wade said. “Yeah, we all know he’s old. But he’s still sharp as a tool, at the same time. He’s one of the sharpest men that you will sit down and talk to. So he’s very, very good at his job. But also, too, like all of us, he has ways that he wants to see things run and see things done and he’s going to do it that way. But also, too, he’s going to make some adjustments. I think they made a lot of adjustments when Jimmy [Butler] came, which [LeBron James] didn’t experience and I didn’t experience. The same thing with Tim [Hardaway] and [Alonzo Mourning], we experienced something that they didn’t experience.”
Wade added that the culture of the Heat is what the organization “stands on.”
“What I like to say is you have to stand on something,” Wade said. “And the culture is what the Heat stands on. It doesn’t matter whether you feel like the word culture has been overused or not. But every organization doesn’t have it. They don’t have rules, they don’t have templates, you don’t know what to do necessarily, you just do. When you come to Miami, you know what’s expected of you, you know what to do, you know what accountability looks like. So no matter what players and no matter what generation, as long as Pat Riley is a part of it, you’re going to have accountability in some instance. It’s not for everybody, as we always say. Miami isn’t for everybody. It was for Jimmy for six years, it was me for 14 until I left and came back, so forward and so on. But I definitely know that everybody who I’ve talked to who has been a part of this organization, when they talk about moments in their life that have been impactful, Miami is a part of that impactfulness of each player who has come through, whether we liked it or not. So at the end of the day, like I said, I love my people in Miami, But also, too, they’re hard. This [stuff] ain’t easy, at the same time. But when you walk away with championships like we did, you understand that winning ain’t easy and it comes with uncomfortable things and uncomfortable moments.”
Few people know better than Wade about the ins and outs of working with Riley. The 13-time All-Star took the floor for the Heat in 15 seasons, all of them with Riley around. Riley was the president of the Heat for all of Wade’s time with the franchise and also served as Miami’s head coach for part of it.
So, Wade got a close look at how Riley operates. Wade’s time with the Heat resulted in three NBA titles and a career that nearly kept him in Miami all the way until retirement. As it shook out, he briefly played elsewhere near the end of his career before returning to the Heat to finish things off.
The culture and environment of the Heat may not be for everyone, but Riley surely believes in what he’s doing after being around the game for so long. In addition, as Wade indicated, Riley has adapted as needed over the years.
Right now, Riley needs to find a way to help the Heat get back into title contention. The squad is facing long odds to make a deep playoff run this season, but the offseason will give him a chance to improve a Heat roster that has undergone some major changes this season.
In the meantime, Miami will be in action on Wednesday for a play-in clash against the Chicago Bulls. It will need to win against Chicago and then pick up another play-in victory later this week in order to reach the first round of the playoffs.
