Miami Heat television play by play broadcaster Eric Reid joins Tobin and Leroy to discuss Miami Heat Opening Night, Pat Riley getting the court named after him, his sitdown interview with the Godfather, Tyler Herro and Nikola Jović.
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00:00a special six 30 pregame show tonight on fan dual sports network sun, Eric rejoining us here
00:07on the program. Eric, thanks for the time. Really appreciate it. Tobin Leroy. Great.
00:13Hey, great to be on with you guys anytime, but especially on a, on a day and night like tonight.
00:19Yes, absolutely. So Eric, you have a, you have an exclusive one-on-one that's Aaron tonight
00:26with Pat ride, Pat Riley court being christened tonight at the arena. I'll any, any hints,
00:32any, any, any, any teasers we can get for the night, like of what heat fans can expect.
00:38Well, let me just, let me just say this. We, we got to spend, I didn't clock the interview,
00:44right? It wasn't until like the day later I asked our executive producer and VP of broadcasting,
00:50Ted Ballard. I go, how long was that interview hour and 20 minutes on camera with, with Pat.
00:57And to be honest with you, I felt blessed and humbled and so grateful to be the person sitting
01:04next to him doing this interview, because literally it's opening up a basketball treasure
01:09chest of memories and stories. He's, you know, iconic, he's already in the hall of fame. He's,
01:16you know, a nine time champion. He he's, you know, the architect of this franchise and this
01:23culture that, that we all know today. And, and, you know, you're going to see two, they're going
01:28to break the interview up into two parts on our hour long pregame that starts at six 30 tonight
01:32on fan dual sports network. You know, there's a lot you won't hear, but there's plenty that you will.
01:39Some of the sound will also be featured in a later episode of inside the heat, but,
01:44but guys, you know, basically I'm, I'm getting to do that hosting the halftime
01:47ceremony that they're going to have. You talk about a fitting way to start a season,
01:53to you know, sort of memorialize our incredible franchise history over the last 30 years,
02:00and to have the official naming of that court, Pat Riley court at Gasea center. And think about
02:06how fitting that is. The guy spent most of his adult life either competing or coaching on a
02:13basketball court. And now forevermore, he teams will compete on a court that bears his signature
02:19and name that signature will be right alongside the logo modeled after Pat's great friend,
02:26the late great Jerry West. I couldn't think of a better, more fitting honor. You know,
02:32Mickey Arison's first incredible idea was to hire Pat Riley 30 years ago. This would be on my top
02:3910 list of great ideas by, by Mr. Arison since that time. So it's a perfect honor. It's going to
02:46be an emotional, meaningful night. And, and Pat right now, guys, he is in such a reflective,
02:53humble, grateful, gracious mood, storytelling mood. So I think, listen, we're all in for a
03:00treat to listen to his comments on the interview we did last week and on the live halftime ceremony.
03:06We'll all enjoy together tonight. Did, did you ever get the feeling? Because I get this feeling
03:11from him. He loves doing the work and he loved building it and being a part of it. And, but when
03:18he took a backstage, he literally pushed all of that on to everybody else that no, no, no, I'm
03:24just playing my part. That's Eric Reed. That's Eric the coach. And that's supposed to, sorry,
03:32that's Eric's poster. And that's the players and they putting in all the work and all the time.
03:36And they may talk to me every now and then, but they're doing all the grunt work. How uncomfortable
03:41was, it seemed like he would be borderline uncomfortable to, to have to go through this,
03:46where we're taking him and putting him back in the forefront of all these things that's
03:52happened with the Miami Heat. Yeah. I think he, listen, you know, he is a little uncomfortable
03:57with it. But he earned this and he deserved this. There are so many parallels Tobin and Leroy.
04:04Think about this. You know, after Pat finished playing for the Lakers and his NBA career was done,
04:11you know, he, he became the traveling secretary for the Lakers. He was Chick Hearns color analyst
04:16on the Lakers simulcast. And then the, the coaching change happened with when Paul Westhead
04:23took over and brought in Pat as an assistant coach after Jack McKinney's unfortunate
04:27bicycle accident. Well, when, when Pat was named head coach of the Lakers,
04:33it was Jerry West that figuratively pushed him into that spot before Pat himself felt he was
04:40probably ready to be a head coach in the NBA. And now, now let's go back 17 years to when Pat Riley
04:47did the same exact thing for Eric Spolstra, pushed him into a position that even Spoh would
04:53admit he didn't feel quite ready for, but Jerry West saw some things in Pat Riley to make him
05:00feel comfortable and confident to put him there. And Pat Riley, you know, one of the examples of,
05:05of greatness is the vision to see and feel things way before the rest of us mortals.
05:13And, and Pat saw enough in Eric Spolstra, who was the, the, the young former video coordinator,
05:18Nader Turin, an assistant coach who was doing such great on-court work and player development
05:24with, with so many of the heat players back in the day. And listen, you know, one of, one of
05:29the things that we got Pat to talk about during the interview, and I don't know if you're going
05:33to hear this part or not tonight. I've always felt, listen, he, he won, he was on championship
05:38teams as a player. He coached the Showtime Lakers to four NBA championships with one of the most
05:44unique and distinctive teams ever put together with Magic and Kareem and James Worthy, Byron Scott.
05:51I mean, iconic teams. Then he builds a culture in New York with a Knicks team that was tough and
05:58nasty and, and played with a, with an edge with Patrick Ewing and Starks and Oakley. He left his
06:04mark there, but what he's done in Miami, in my view, was always bigger than just coaching. He was
06:12the architect of this whole thing. You know, I, there's very few people in sports or life
06:19that can just change the culture of an organization by just walking in the door.
06:24I think Bill Parcells is one of them. I know Pat Riley is one of them. There's Greg Popovich,
06:30I would put on that short list, but he did all of that. And, and, you know, one of the things I'm
06:36going to say tonight is the, the passage of time is a mystical thing. We all see it in our own lives
06:42and, and how fast our children grow up, right? I can still remember being in the back of the room
06:49on the Carnival Cruise ship, the Imagination, 30 years ago, when Mickey Harrison introduced Pat
06:54Riley as the head coach and president of the Heat. Guys, we were like seven and a half years
07:00into our franchise history, seven. But the, the charm of being an expansion team had dissipated.
07:07The Heat, you remember, traded away all those young players we had developed and drafted.
07:12You know, Sherm, Cycli, Steve Smith, Glenn Rice, you know, well, Rice was still there, but most of
07:18them, Grant Long, Kevin Edwards, they were all moved on. And we were a team of veteran journeyman
07:25players, and we sort of lost our identity until we found it. And it's still, that day on the
07:31Imagination, you had to use your imagination. It was hard to believe that Pat Riley was coming to
07:37the Heat. Everything changed from that moment moving forward. And the Harrison-Riley connection
07:44at the top has filtered down. Pat is so grateful for his relationship with the, with Mickey and
07:51the Harrison family. So grateful for the great support he's had from his coaching staffs, from
07:57all the guys that played for him. Remember how this started, the trade for Zoe, the trade for
08:02Hardaway, the trade for Mashburn, bringing in P.J. Brown, those heartbreaking playoff eliminations to
08:08the Knicks with our first group of contending teams. And then Pat, you know, getting Shaq and
08:14Dwayne together the summer of 2010. I mean, when we look around that building tonight and celebrate
08:20Pat Riley Court, forget your imagination. Just use your eyes and your memory. And we'll look at
08:27all the retired jerseys. We'll survey seven conference championship banners, three world
08:33championship banners, and we'll understand this wasn't a dream, this was reality. And, you know,
08:41Pat Riley had a lot of help in this. But he, so what basically, my long-winded way of saying this,
08:48Pat admitted to me something that I've felt all along, that this is the crowning achievement of
08:53his incredible Hall of Fame life as an NBA person. He's a treasure chest for basketball.
09:00At the age of 79, guys, with the three championships here in Miami, still not satiated,
09:07still wants another, still working so diligently and passionately for another. The man's addicted
09:15to winning. He's addicted to basketball and integrity. And I think we're all fortunate as
09:21Heat fans or Heat employees, members of Heat Nation, we've all been blessed to be on this
09:27journey with him. And tonight we're celebrating his 30 years and I love it forevermore. The court
09:33that Heat players will compete on will bear his name and signature. It's a perfect way to start
09:39this season. And what a great idea by Mickey Harrison. Yeah, we can't wait for it, Eric. It
09:43sounds like it's going to be an incredible night flipping over to the team a little bit. You know,
09:48this has been a very interesting preseason with, you know, the way that they seem like they're
09:52playing. One of the things that we were talking about last hour, a little bit, we were playing
09:56this cup from Tyler hero. And I just, I don't know if you've noticed this, Eric, but he seems,
10:01I don't know if it's a maturity or just a mindset change. I see him all the time. We saw this just
10:07noticing a media day, smiling all the time, laughing happy. Like, I don't know if it's a
10:12comfort in the own, in his own skin or what, but do you, do you notice anything different about
10:17Tyler just from a mentality standpoint going into this year? Uh, because it just, I don't know,
10:22there just seems to be an easiness to him. You, you, you said the word Brandon, uh, maturity.
10:28Um, I started to see this happen for Tyler last year and it's ironic the game. He got
10:34injured his knee at new Orleans. I remember walking off the elevator with him into the hotel lobby
10:40and you know, his points were coming down at that time. Right. But he was playing a more team
10:46friendly sort of winning oriented brand of basketball. We know we can score. It's not
10:51about just how many points you score. It's the plays you make to help your team win on a given
10:55night. And I felt like last year, right. As he got hurt, he was embracing that. And he had changed
11:01his game in a very subtle way, uh, to be more catered to winning. I think one of the things
11:07that's hurting the NBA right now, so many players go to three or four different high schools,
11:12two different colleges or a year or two in college. There's not enough chance for, for,
11:18for the talented players out there to identify with teams and understand roles and understand.
11:24It's not just about how many points you score, but it's, it's what you do to help your team win
11:29each game that you're in. And Tyler's begun to understand that. And I think now he's fully
11:34embraced it. Um, I think he understands, listen, there's only so much you can control when it
11:40comes to injuries and availability, but you can sense his determination to, to want to be healthy.
11:45He's stronger and better, better condition to start this season than he's ever been. And I
11:49think his game is just ready for that next level. It's not just about, is he getting his 20 points
11:55per game? We're going to see him and Terry Rozier. Listen, they only played in 11 games together last
12:00season. It's a brand new backcourt. We got a glimpse of this brand new starting group that
12:05didn't start us. We had 35 lineups last year. This one was not one of them, but they went three and
12:10oh in the preseason. Um, I think we all like this starting group. There's pretty, pretty serious
12:17depth. I mean, we'll see how the backcourt depth shakes out, but everywhere else, there's really
12:22good depth, uh, with, with four centers and like an infantry of wing players. Um, it got bigger
12:30like where we're at because the expectations externally are really low for a heat team.
12:36And internally there's this edge and chippiness. And, you know, when you get knocked out in the
12:41first round and you wear a heat Jersey that that does not make for a comfortable summer. So I think
12:47we're in for an exciting season. It guys think about how competitive the East is last year,
12:52two through eight were separated by four games, four through eight separated by two games.
13:00Everyone matters. I know it's, we're at the start of another 82 game marathon.
13:05Every game matters. Um, and, and you know what matters even more your home games,
13:12to oversimplify this season, got to score more 110, a game was the second most in heat franchise
13:19history last year. It was 26 out of 30 teams in the league. So you've got to find ways to score
13:25more. And I think Eric Spolstra and his staff have uncovered some subtle changes to help the
13:30offense. Some of it's off a defense that average 15 and a half steals a game in the preseason.
13:36Uh, and, and you know what the rest of it is, you got to win more at home guys,
13:4122 and 19 at home was the worst record among the eight playoff teams in the East last year.
13:48He, my, my hope for the heat is try to get to 30 wins at home. It's not easy to do. It's,
13:54it's only happened. I think 10 times in franchise history. It, it, it, it's all,
13:59it hasn't happened in the last 10 years for the heat, but if you can win 30 at home,
14:04you're, you're ready to win 50 games and 50 games means you're a heavyweight contender.
14:09Only seven teams in the league won 50 or more last year. Only two of them lived in the East,
14:14the Celtics and the Knicks. So, uh, let's, let's see what happens, but it's going to be a very
14:20competitive season. You know, if you want to say New York, Boston and Philly are the top three,
14:25you're even going out on a limb there. You saw the way the Knicks look last night,
14:29Philly started with a beat and Paul George not playing. Then there's Cleveland, Indy, Milwaukee,
14:37Indiana, Orlando, Miami. It's a cluster, man. It's going to be very competitive.
14:42And I think we're going to see a season of compelling matchups.
14:46One more before we get you out of here. One of the interesting wild cards is, uh,
14:50Nicola Jovich because of his age, but he looks like a moose. He very much is buying into his
14:57role. And it was interesting seeing him the, the last preseason game, because you got to kind of
15:04see him not be in the role, take over a little bit. Like he was kind of attacking John Moran
15:08on the mismatches and things like that. What are you, what are you most excited about to see
15:13with Nico and what can be the next steps for him on this team? Well, I think he's going to continue
15:18to emerge, you know, a couple of summers in a row with the Serbian national team. And this year,
15:23the Olympic team, you see how much stronger he has gotten physically, the weight he's gained,
15:28by the way, look at him and envision the same thing happening to Kalil where a year,
15:33two years from now, 15, 20 pounds stronger. But I think, listen, Jovich has won me over.
15:39He did last year. He's got size. He's got really high skill level. He can handle, he can pass,
15:46he can shoot. He's a decent rebounder. He's an improving defender. He's a ball mover. He's got
15:52a great IQ. He, he sees and feels the game beyond his 21 years and his limited NBA experience.
15:59The key for him, he's going to get really good shots. He's probably not going to get a ton of
16:04shots. So when you miss a few, it feels worse when you're only getting five, six shots a game.
16:10I think it's really important. Listen, his main role is a ball mover with that starting group and
16:15a rebounder with BAM, but he could advance it himself. I think it's important for not only Nico,
16:21but for Rozier and Duncan Robinson. Those are three guys that I thought played well in the
16:26preseason, but none of them shot it like they're capable of in the preseason. And even though
16:31they're not the main guys, uh, they're the main guys behind the main guys. So they're
16:36real important players for the heat. And I think all three are going to have good,
16:39really good, strong seasons. You guys can catch Eric Reed and John Crotty tonight on
16:45fan dual sports network, son, six 30 pregame time. You will hear, uh, you'll be able to watch Eric
16:50Reed's sit down with Pat Riley in a couple of parts. It sounds like it's going to be absolutely
16:55awesome for all heat fans looking forward to seeing tonight, Eric. Thanks so much for the time.
16:58Tobin. I want to drop one on you. As I say goodbye to you for now, I just filled out my national
17:03sports media association nominees for sportscaster of the year for the upcoming year. I got the list
17:10five guys, right? I just want you to know you're on my list, brother, man. Yeah. Thank you so much
17:17for your creativity. Um, on a daily basis, uh, love your passion for the Miami heat,
17:23but just respect and admire your creativity, uh, consistently. So keep up the great work.
17:28And I just wanted to plant that seed in your head. Just promise me one thing. If you get
17:32nominated and you win, you've got to show up at that event in Greensboro, North Carolina.
17:37I will, I will definitely make that happen, Eric. I promise that if I, if, if you've got to do the
17:41thing, look forward to tonight guys, keep up the great work down the road and enjoy the basketball
17:50with us. There you go, Eric Reed, your television play-by-play voice of the Miami heat. And you got
17:55to do the thing. And tonight the, uh, the Pat Riley halftime performance.