Miami Heat president Pat Riley made it clear that he is not retiring or resigning and that he remains as committed as ever to leading the franchise to its fourth NBA championship.
"I'm not going to retire. I'm not going to resign," Riley, 81, told reporters at his annual end-of-the-season news conference in Miami. "I'm not going to step aside. When I came here almost 31 years ago, I have the same attitude as I had in that press conference on the [cruise ship] Imagination. Period. I want another parade down Biscayne Boulevard. It may come. It may not.
"It has always been my desire to win, to win big. I'm not going down that road talking about [retiring]. I just clarified it's not going to happen unless something happens that I can't control."
The Heat missed the playoffs for the first time since the 2018-19 season when they lost, 127-126 in overtime, to the Charlotte Hornets in the 9-10 play-in game Apr. 14. It was the fourth consecutive season Miami has started the postseason in the play-in.
Riley vowed that he will never change his approach, saying his only focus is on winning and improving the Heat and that he will never tank for assets.
"We are in a period right now, you don't make radical changes right now, not in my philosophy," Riley said. "I am not going to tank. We are not going to lose. We are not going into the lottery and do that insanity because I will quit -- if I ever get ordered to go down that road. I am always thinking of ways to win.
"Now all I can give you is a bunch of excuses. And I don't want to do that. We are just not good enough. We are not happy with it. This is the first time in those three years that we have an opportunity to do something with our roster, with our flexibility, with our players."