Miami Heat President Pat Riley held a news conference Tuesday to talk about the team’s run in the 2023 NBA Finals and what to expect next season.
The Heat ended the finals 4-1 with the Denver Nuggets taking home their first title. The title loss is the Heat’s third finals fail in the team’s last three appearances.
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Rilley opened up his presser talking about what an incredible postseason it was for the Heat, and that it was one of the most bizarre and exhilarating playoff runs he had ever been a part of.
With the Heat not winning the title this season, Riley made it very clear that there is a sense of urgency to win their fourth NBA title.
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“We are working now on our fifth iteration — if I can use that word — on building another championship team, and that’s my goal," he said. "I have no other plans other than to do that. We have to see what happens in the next couple of weeks in free agency."
Although Riley is content with the current roster, he did say he would like to get Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo more support. When asked if the Heat planned to make a big move this off-season, Riley said subtle moves would be enough if they are the right moves.
“Hitting the home run, as I said, is addition by subtraction, so you can go out, we’ve done this, we’ve played this game for 27 years, some of them we hit on, we hit big — and I plan on hitting big again, but I'm not just swinging for the fences right now because it could be reckless," Riley said.
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And to close out the presser, Riley spoke on Udonis Haslem’s retirement after two decades with the Heat. Riley shared a touching story on how Haslem was there for him after he found out his brother had passed away in 2020.
“Then I felt this hand on my shoulder, it was (Haslem) — he said, I got you, he walked me to my car," Riley said. "That’s the kinda man he is — he's special.”
Riley said he's going to miss Haslem but that Haslem plans on being around the franchise a lot.
