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Pat Riley Fails To See Why People Hate The Heat Now

Pat Riley has finally spoken after his stunning free agency trifecta…and he’s none too pleased by the backlash. Riley spoke with Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, and he was clearly irked by the, um, heat taken by his team.

He wasn’t happy with Charles Barkley, for one:

“Charles Barkley, to me, went way over the top. I thought way, way, way over the top. I think Charles is probably the only guy in the league that can get away with what he gets away with. For some reason, he just gets away with it.”

And Magic general manager Otis Smith, who lamented that LeBron wasn’t “more of a competitor?” Riles wasn’t thrilled with him either:

“I thought that was an absolutely stupid remark,” Riley said. “He never made any kind of comment like that when he signed Rashard Lewis and he brought him down from Seattle with a $128 million contract or anything like that.”

Lewis’ contract is actually worth $118 million, still plenty insane. We also feel it’s worth pointing out here that Rashard Lewis =/= LeBron-Wade-Bosh, which helps explain why there was no “kind of comment like that” when Lewis signed with Orlando.

Riley wasn’t thrilled with the Magic’s coach, either…who just happens to be former Heat coach Stan Van Gundy:

“Stan’s out there making comments about Chris Bosh being a lapdog to Dwyane Wade or something like that. I don’t know what happened to some of these guys along the way.”

To this, Matt Moore at CBS Sports says: “Asking ‘what happened’ to Van Gundy? Pat Riley did.” And though Van Gundy said when he resigned from the Heat that it was his decision, plenty of people will always believe Riley forced him out.

Really, Riley is just angry with everyone:

“I think all these people should get a life, I really do. Most of it has been silly, just absolutely silly…[LeBron, Wade, and Bosh], for some reason, took the hit, and now they’re ready to compete.”

Emphasis ours on Riley’s ballsiest line. For some reason? Really? Does The Decision – the program that inspired as universal a disgust as almost anything that has ever aired on television – ring a bell? No? How about Bosh openly, proudly saying he played with people’s emotions during his free agency? There were plenty of reasons for these guys – well, mostly LeBron and Bosh – to “take the hit.”

Of course, the other big reason – people enjoy rooting against dynasties or potential dynasties. It’s the old “rooting for the house in blackjack” thing. The Heat are going to be hated – that’s the price for having a lot of great players and being in a position to win a lot of games. Riley asked for this, and he should know well enough to expect it. To the victor go the spoils – and the hatred.

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