Heat president Pat Riley is widely considered one of the NBA’s best closers, an executive who can wine and dine some of the league’s best players and get them to sign on the dotted line. But the one deal he didn’t close apparently continues to haunt him.
It’s been close to three years since LeBron James left the Heat to return to the Cavaliers, and Riley continues to reveal specifics on how it all went down.
In a lengthy, illuminating ESPN feature, Riley explained how the Heat tried to woo James back to the franchise he led to four consecutive Finals appearances and two titles. The 72-year-old also admitted that James’ answer nearly led him to say something as harsh as what Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert famously wrote when James left for Miami several years earlier.
Riley said he and Heat executive Andy Elisburg traveled to meet with James and his associates three summers ago, taking the two trophies James had won with the franchise in addition to some charts and an easel for a presentation about the free agents Miami was targeting.
Riley said he brought wine from a Napa vineyard — the same wine James’ business manager, Maverick Carter, had given Riley when the two sides agreed on a deal four years earlier. But when Riley entered the suite and saw James, his agent Rich Paul and friend Randy Mims but no Carter, whom he respects, Riley said he didn’t believe the meeting was sincere.
Riley told Elisburg not to bring the trophies and presentation materials into the suite. Riley said James and his associates seemed distracted during his pitch, splitting their attention between the Heat executive and a World Cup match, so much so that Riley asked them to mute the TV.
Riley flew back after the meeting, expecting the worst. He said he got a text that he would be receiving a call soon. When Riley’s phone rang soon after, Paul greeted him before handing the phone to James, who delivered the decision.
“I was silent,” Riley said. “I didn’t say anything. My mind began to just go. And it was over. I was very angry when LeBron left. It was personal for me. It just was. I had a very good friend who talked me off the ledge and kept me from going out there and saying something like Dan Gilbert. I’m glad I didn’t do it.”
Gilbert’s infamous letter came moments after James opted to leave Cleveland for Miami in 2010, in which the owner told Cavaliers fans they didn’t “deserve this kind of cowardly betrayal.” It was a letter many thought was the end of any potential reunion between James and the Cavaliers in the future.
Now, James is hoping to bring his home state a second consecutive championship after sweeping the Pacers in the first round of the playoffs.