Miami Heat team president Pat Riley is not only dominant as an executive, but also in his 20-plus year coaching career.

Shaquille O’Neal was one of many legends to play under Riley, and he constantly boasted about his knowledge of the game. When Pat McAfee compared Riley to JJ Redick, the first-year coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, O’Neal was outraged.

“No, stop,” O’Neal said of the comparison. “Don’t even do that. No, stop. First of all, JJ is a nice guy. Pat Riley is the man. So, imagine you come in and [expletive] JJ Redick starts yelling at you. This is going to be a [expletive] fight in there. Players aren’t going to just yell and scream and run faster. Pat Riley is my next [expletive].”

Riley won five NBA titles as a coach, most recently with O’Neal and Dwyane Wade on the Heat in 2006. He also won three Coach of the Year awards before passing the torch to coach Erik Spoelstra after the 2008 season. Spoelstra picked up where Riley left off, winning two titles and making a half-dozen Finals appearances.

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Anthony Pasciolla works as a contributing writer for Miami Heat On SI. You can contact him at [email protected] or follow him on X @AnthonyPasci.

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