Former Miami Heat guard Jason Williams revealed a story of how he pissed off Heat president Pat Riley – who was then the team’s head coach – so badly that Riley suffered a torn meniscus.
Williams, Udonis Haslem and Mike Miller discussed the incident on a recent episode of the The OGs podcast.
“One time he put me in the game or something, and I didn’t shoot the ball or something,” Williams said. “He was yelling at me or some s—. And he took me out. And then he put me back in, and I had a – I swear to God – as soon as I stepped on the floor, the ball came to me, and I had a wide open shot.”
Williams revealed that he passed the ball, which aggravated Riley. The former Heat point guard said he wouldn’t do that again.
Usually, Riley would come talk to the team with about 10 minutes left on the clock at halftime. This time, Williams said there were two minutes left and the Heat coach hadn’t left his office.
“He came out with a brown paper bag breathing, got right down in my face, ‘You make me hyperventilate,’” Williams said.
Williams said he wasn’t sure what to do, but then Riley went to kick what seems to be a doorstop and injured his knee.
“You know how the doors in the locker room got the little flip down on ‘em – on the carpet?” Williams said. “He went to kick the joint, tore his meniscus.”
Haslem then revealed that they didn’t see Riley for two weeks because he had to have surgery on his knee.
Williams jokingly took the blame, saying it was all his fault, but it just goes to show how big of a competitor Riley is. He clearly wanted Williams to be aggressive and shoot the ball, and it aggravated him to no end that the former Heat guard wouldn’t do so.
A NBA champion in 2006 with the Heat, Williams played with the franchise from the 2005-06 season through the 2007-08 season. He then retired for a season before returning to the NBA with the Orlando Magic in the 2009-10 campaign.
An elite playmaker known for his exotic passes, Williams averaged 10.5 points, 2.3 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game in his NBA career. He had one of the best seasons of his career in Miami in the 2005-06 season, averaging 12.3 points and 4.9 assists per game.
While Riley is no longer coaching, it’s interesting to get some insight into how he was as a head coach from former players like Williams.
