Miami Heat team president Pat Riley is known as one of the best executives in the history of the NBA. His track record in recruiting some of the best talent around the league is second to none — something that former Heat star Chris Bosh recently opened up about.
Riley famously brought his championships rings to Bosh's free-agent meeting with the Heat in 2010 and plopped them on the table as a pitch. Bosh even got to keep a 2006 ring:
“Oh, yeah, Pat brought his rings out. It looked just like a Crown Royal bag,” Bosh said, via Brian Windhorst of ESPN. “He puts it down, like boom. Big boy talk. When he ended the meeting, Pat gave me a 2006 Heat championship ring.”
Bosh says Riley told him to give the ring back when he won one as a player. Bosh and the Heat won championships in 2012 and 2013, but the big man still has that 2006 ring:
“Take it. Keep it. Give it back to me when you win one,” Riley said to Bosh.
“I still haven't given it back,” Bosh said. “I wonder if he even remembers that? I think I mentioned it once, like, ‘Yo, do you want that ring back?' And he said, ‘What are you talking about?' And I kept it moving.”
Riley earned the ring in question during Miami's memorable 2006 Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O'Neal-led championship. Riley does have more than a few rings in his collection, though, so perhaps he really did forget about that particular one. Or perhaps the one he gave Bosh was a replica.
Either way, Riley's recruitment of the Big Three to Miami will always remain legendary. It's just one of the reasons why Riley will go down as an all-time great executive, and he's trying to work more magic to this day.
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