Pat Riley speaks out, openly upset with Heat haters

For the last two months I've been preaching about how everybody is going to hate on the Heat and to be prepared for it.   With Chris Bosh and LeBron James coming to Miami, along with the rest of this amazing lineup, its an open invitation for everyone out there who feels the need for their voice to be heard to bitch and moan about the Heat.  I'm willing to bet everything I've got that none of them would say a word of James and Bosh had chosen to play for their team.

Obviously I'm in no position to tell anybody what to do, just merely making suggestions that I hope you consider.  It's something that I've been getting ready for, and I'm banking on the idea to let them hate because in the end, we have all the cards.  We have the lineup of all-stars who left money on the table to play together and work towards the common goal. 

For those of who feel like the negativity may get the best of you, don't worry.  Even the best of us can let things get under their skin and lash out, and as of today that includes Pat Riley.  He spoke to the press today during a 42-minute conference call and when asked about some of the NBA ‘professionals' who had choice comments about the Heat's off-season acquisitions, he didn't mince words. 

I'll start with his comments directed to Orlando Magic GM Otis Smith, who opened his mouth about LeBron and his choice to come to Miami less then a day after the decision took place.  He said that he thought James was "more of a competitor"; that "the great ones" can win on their own and "usually stay in one location".  

That wasn't all he said, and for the full account of his anti-Heat blabbing you can read about it here.  As for what Riley said about it...

"When Otis Smith made a point about LeBron's competitiveness because he didn't stay in Cleveland, I thought it was an absolutely stupid remark.  He never made any kind of comment like that when he signed Rashard Lewis and brought him down from Seattle to a $128 million contract"

After reading what Smith said back in July, Riley really held back in my opinion.  But the fact that he said anything at all shows how irritated the comments made him.  The other guy on Riley's rant list was Charles Barkley, who over the past year cant seem to resist opening his giant mouth and say negative things about the Heat. 

Barkley went so far as to refer to Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and LeBron James as punks.  Said Chuck:

"I thought that (James') little one-hour special was a punk move. I thought them dancing around on the stage was a punk move, and I thought he should've stayed in Cleveland."

That was after LeBron's tweet that he was keeping track of all the people who were taking negatively about him.  It was Barkley's admitted intention to be added to that list, which is where these comments were derived from.  LeBron's ‘decision' may have been a douche move, but one action doesn't stack up against the countless ways that Barkley has upset and offended people by running his mouth over the past couple decades.   Here is what Riley said in response to Chuck:

"Charles Barkley, to me, went way over the top. Way, way, way over the top.  For some reason (the media) and the network he works for has given this guy literary license to say whatever he wants, whenever he wants to say it. I think Charles is the only guy in the league who can get away with what he gets away with...and we all let him get away with it again.  I can guarantee a couple of guys don't like that, being called that.  LeBron isn't that.  Dwyane is surely not that, and neither is Chris."

I think it's a combination of Riley defending his players and just being really fed up with people open criticizing and trash-talking about his players.  It's beyond unprofessional, and it's something that you will never hear come out of Miami.  We're all well aware of how classy of an organization they run down here and Riley speaking out shows just how upset he must be. 

For him to speak out instead of taking the high road shows that he felt the need to defend himself and his players.  Here are the rest of his comments that I thought were relevant:

"I think all these people should get a life. I really do.  Most of it has been silly, absolutely silly.  But I understand.  We live in a different world now.  I can't even relate to it.  I take a little bit of umbrage to some of the things that came from people in our game that all of a sudden have become the moral conscious or moral authority on the decision every team or some individual might make."

"There have been a number of things written all summer long about the three guys we signed.  But in the end, they're the ones, all three of them, that showed a world-class personality.  They took the hit, and now, they're ready to compete.  They've been mentally tough with all these kind of things."