- First job with the Lakers was as broadcaster alongside the legendary Chick Hearn. In 1979, six games into the season, then-Laker coach Jack McKinney was seriously injured in a bicycle accident. Assistant Paul Westhead was promoted to head coach and hired Riley out of the broadcast booth to be an assistant.
- Coined the phrase "three-peat". Actually has the phrase trademarked and charges sports teams a fee if they want to use it.
- Only coach in NBA history to take three different teams to the NBA Finals.
- Was not the first choice to be Lakers' head coach after Paul Westhead was fired. Early in the 1981-1982 season, when the Lakers were struggling and Magic Johnson wasn't happy, owner Jerry Buss fired Westhead and, at an ensuing press conference, named then-general manager Jerry West head coach. West responded by saying, "Like hell!" Buss then turned to Riley, then an assistant, and said "Do you want the job?" Riley only agreed to take the job if West would sit at the bench for a few games until he felt comfortable. The rest, of course, is history.
- Has coached some of the best centers in the NBA: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Patrick Ewing, Alonzo Mourning, and Shaquille O'Neal. Riley also played with Wilt Chamberlain, another great center, on the Lakers.
- He, Phil Jackson, and Alex Hannum are the only coaches in NBA history to coach two different teams to NBA championships.
- Early in the 1981 season, Paul Westhead was fired and Riley then elevated to the head coaching position, where he stayed until the 1989-1990 season. Won four NBA titles in eight trips to the Finals.
- Played eight NBA seasons with the San Diego (now Houston) Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers, and Phoenix Suns.
- Only player (who wasn't a former Boston Celtic) to play for an NBA championship team (1971-1972 Los Angeles Lakers) and later coach the same team to an NBA championship, winning titles in 1981-1982, 1984-1985, 1986-1987, and 1987-1988.
- Days prior to the start of the 2003-2004 NBA season he stepped down as Head Coach of the Miami Heat. However he remained with the team as President. He returned to the coaching job near the beginning of the 2005-2006 season, and eventually led the Heat to their first NBA Title.
- After Stan Van Gundy resigned from coaching the Miami Heat for personal reasons in December 2005, Riley returned as the team's head coach. Speculation circulated that Van Gundy was forced out and that Riley had always wanted to return to coaching the team.
- Is a huge fan of Bruce Springsteen.
- Head coach of the NBA's Miami Heat (December 2005)
- Played college basketball at the University of Kentucky under the legendary Adolph Rupp.
- Has an adopted son, James Patrick Riley.
- Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach in 2008.
- Only coach in NBA history to replace another coach in mid-season and coach that team to the NBA championship. He accomplished this twice, with the Lakers in 1981-1982 and the Miami Heat in 2005-2006.
- Was a starter on the University of Kentucky team that lost to Texas Western (now Texas-El Paso) in the historic NCAA final in 1966.
- Appeared in an infomercial, hosted by Anthony Robbins and Tom Selleck, for "The Tony Robbins Ultimate Edge" system. (2008)
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