Today Miami Heat president Pat Riley held a press conference and it was everything you could hope for. Riley candidly and contentiously spoke on the numerous rumors surrounding the team.
“You want to trend something?” Riley asked of the media. “I’m pissed. Get that trending.” Since the Heat lost to the San Antonio Spurs rumors have been swirling about the future of the team. “I think everybody needs to get a grip,” Riley told reporters, in speaking about the Finals loss. “This stuff is hard and you gotta stay together if you got the guts and you don’t find the first door and run out of it, if you have an opportunity.”
The main question is what will become of the “Big 3″. LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh can all opt-out of the final years of their contracts and become unrestricted free agents. “I don’t think we need to recruit Dwyane, LeBron and Chris again,” Riley said. “You gotta stay together, if you’ve got the guts. You don’t find the first door and run out of it.”
“He (owner Micky Arison) will do anything to get those guys back,” Riley said. “I’m sure that Micky will do whatever he has to do to keep this team together.”
During his exit interview Chris Bosh made it clear that he wants to return. LeBron James on the other hand wasn’t so definitive. James said he needed to get away for a while and think about it. As for Dwyane Wade, he bypassed doing an exit interview so it’s unclear where he stands.
On LeBron James:
“He has to get away and think about it,” Riley said of James. “He has the right to do what he wants to do.
“The four years we’ve had with LeBron, we’re hoping it turns into another eight or 10,” Riley said. “I love LeBron, he knows that, he knows how we feel about him.”
On Dwyane Wade:
“He’s a champion. He’s a world champion and he’s a Miami Heat for life. He’s an icon and one of the great players in the world. I would be very surprised if he were anywhere else but a Heat uniform next year,” Riley said. “It’s unfair for Dwyane to be questioned.
Wade’s production and playing time have both diminished so the possibility of him coming off the bench was asked to which Riley responded “has not been discussed. We’d probably have to get into a room with boxing gloves to have that discussion.”
On Carmelo Anthony:
“That’s a pipe dream. But everybody thought 2010 [when James, Wade, Bosh were signed] was a pipe dream, too. I don’t harbor that thought. It’s a possibility, but that’s not what we’re thinking about today. That’s not where we’re headed.”
Riley isn’t worried about being able to reload: “I guarantee you other players will want to come down here.”
– Shaina Auxilly (@Shay_Marie)
