Outside of Basketball
Outside of basketball, Riley has developed into a pop-culture figure. This is born out of Riley's signature look, a slicked-back hairstyle, which is often described as gangster-looking, and his immaculate tan. He came to the public eye leading the "Showtime" Lakers of the 1980s, furthering his image by "guaranteeing" a championship. Riley has coached in three American cities well known for popular nightlife and celebrity culture.
In 1988, Riley published a book entitled Showtime, which recapped the Lakers' successful run to the 1987 NBA Championship. One of the phrases Riley coined in the book was the "Disease of More", stating that "success is often the first step toward disaster" and that defending champions often fail the following season because every player who returns wants more playing time, more shots per game, and more money. The phrase stemmed from the Lakers' disappointing 1980–81 campaign coming off a championship the previous season.
Riley is known for his friendship with Giorgio Armani, preferring to wear Armani suits during basketball games, and even modeling once at an Armani show.
Riley is also a motivational speaker during the off-season. Riley earns in excess of $50,000 for each speaking engagement.
Riley and his wife Chris have two children, James Riley and Elisabeth Riley. Riley is a practicing Roman Catholic.
On February 27, 2007, the Miami Heat were honored for their 2005–2006 NBA Championship at the White House. During the ceremony, Riley presented George W. Bush with a jersey before announcing, "I voted for the man. If you don’t vote, you don’t count." After the ceremony, Riley was questioned by reporters about the political nature of his comments. He responded by saying, "I’m pro-American, pro-democracy, I’m pro-government. I follow my boss. He’s my boss."
Riley and his wife are Bruce Springsteen fans. At his 2008 induction into the NBA Hall of Fame, he ended his speech with a quote from the Springsteen song, "Back in Your Arms Again".
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Famous quotes containing the word basketball:
“Perhaps basketball and poetry have just a few things in common, but the most important is the possibility of transcendence. The opposite is labor. In writing, every writer knows when he or she is laboring to achieve an effect. You want to get from here to there, but find yourself willing it, forcing it. The equivalent in basketball is aiming your shot, a kind of strained and usually ineffective purposefulness. What you want is to be in some kind of flow, each next moment a discovery.”
—Stephen Dunn (b. 1939)