Luis M. Alvarez / AP

Pat Riley, 63, is a seven-time NBA champion.

"We knew early on that he was a cut above, obviously,'' said Warren DeSantis, Riley's best friend from Schenectady. "He had this nasty competitive streak, every day. There were no easy workouts with Pat. Everything was serious. When he went to Kentucky, we said he'd be an All-American, and sure enough, he was. We said he'd play for a national title, sure enough, he did. We said he'd be drafted in the first round, and sure enough, he did that, too.''

But who could have known one of the best coaches in any sport? All the fame and fortune and books and celebrity and success, all punctuated by a spot in the Hall of Fame that Riley says he considers religious ground?

Like Riley said that night eight years ago at his high school induction, who would have believed it?

"Did we think he'd be here? Probably not,'' DeSantis said. "Are we surprised? No.''

There are many who play Riley as the villain, a man who's impossible to deal with, is overbearing and obnoxious and pompous. Those who have been around him the longest, though, insist that isn't close to the truth, and point to the fact that most people in the Heat basketball operations department - those who interact with Riley the most - never seem to leave the organization.

Maybe that's the best tribute to Riley's life in basketball.

"I'm fiercely loyal and I think these people are back at me,'' Riley said.

When all Heat employees were forced to take a 10 percent pay cut to get the organization's finances in line six years ago, Riley knew it would hit hard, especially those who weren't making much money to begin with. So after that season, when Miami made the second round of the NBA playoffs, Riley decreed that everyone in basketball operations would get a full playoff share, roughly a $20,000 bonus.

Some who opened those checks thought it was a joke. Quite the contrary, and Riley made it happen.

His role as president of the Heat is to rebuild a roster and try to restore what was a championship team in 2006. He wants to write another book, and also wants to commit time to a program he calls HomeStrong, which honors returning veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"It's going to be a forever thing,'' Riley said.

So will his title: Basketball Hall of Famer.

"I feel like I've contributed something to the overall game of basketball, either with my persona or how I coached or the players that I produced, the organizations that I've been part of have all been, I think, very first-class organizations,'' Riley said. "So, yeah, it's an honor to have that link to your name. It is.''

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