MILWAUKEE \u2013 Pat Riley and Erik Spoelstra don’t disagree on much. Except sideline apparel.<\/p>\n
And that’s nothing new \u2014 they’ve had differing opinions for years on the subject of what coaches should wear on the sideline. Riley, the always-dapper Miami Heat president, wants NBA coaches to wear suits again. Spoelstra, the Heat coach, prefers the more-casual look used in recent years.<\/p>\n
It has been a debate around the league at times in recent years, and it seems to be a talking point once again.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe gave me a few suits back when I was an assistant coach, but I looked like the lead singer from the Talking Heads,” Spoelstra said Tuesday before Miami’s game in Milwaukee, referencing David Byrne, who famously wore an oversized suit as one of his calling cards. “I didn\u2019t realize I had to tailor the suit, too.\u201d<\/p>\n
The suit talk got resurrected on Sunday when the Los Angeles Lakers unveiled a statue in Riley’s honor outside their arena. It’s an image of Riley, on the sideline, wearing an Armani suit. That was the style he preferred when he coached the Lakers, New York and Miami \u2014 and still wears today.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wish it went back to coats and ties,” Riley, speaking about coaches’ apparel, said on Sunday. “I think an audience wants to see somebody on the sidelines who looks like a leader, dresses like a leader, acts like a leader.\u201d<\/p>\n
NBA coaches have enjoyed a relaxed policy since the bubble restart of the 2019-20 season, when quarter-zips, casual pants and sneakers became regular sideline apparel. Suits, ties and dress shoes have been out ever since.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know why we still wear suits,\u201d then-San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said in the summer of 2019, when he was coaching USA Basketball\u2019s team at the World Cup in China \u2014 and his gameday attire was polos, sweatpants and sneakers. \u201cSomebody, please, tell me why we do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
He celebrated when the NBA ditched suits, and he wasn’t alone. Spoelstra and the Heat staff have worn black polos, sweaters or quarter-zips with black pants ever since the bubble. If nothing else, it makes packing an easier process.<\/p>\n
Spoelstra noted that Riley’s look was, and remains, iconic.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s becoming a little bit different anyways in corporate America,\u201d Spoelstra said, noting the NBA is the only place where dressing-down has been the go-to look in recent years. \u201cBut then I also see Pat\u2019s point of view. When I see the footage of him from the Lakers to the Knicks to the Heat, he did look sharp. But he wore suits differently than us mortals.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the NBA, the dress code got ramped up considerably thanks to Riley and the late Chuck Daly. Riley went with Armani; Daly\u2019s suits were Hugo Boss, and his shoes were so fancy that his friends coveted them. After Daly died, Rollie Massimino made no secret about raiding his friend\u2019s shoe collection \u2014 and wore what he took for the remainder of his own coaching career.<\/p>\n
Bucks coach Doc Rivers wore the suits for years. He gets Riley’s point \u2014 but acknowledged that going back to the old ways might not be easy.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a tough one because quarter-zips are so comfortable,” Rivers said. \u201cThey are so easy to wear.\u201d<\/p>\n
A potential compromise idea: Rivers said he\u2019d push to have to coaches don suits for the playoffs.<\/p>\n
\u201cI brought this up to someone and it\u2019s going to go through the chain,” Rivers said. \u201cI do think it wouldn\u2019t be a bad idea for the playoffs because wearing suits shows the significance of the playoffs. … I\u2019d have to start working out again because none of my suits would fit anymore.”<\/p>\n
The last time Spoelstra wore a suit was September, when he attended Heat managing general partner Micky Arison’s enshrinement in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. There were two nights where Spoelstra had to dress up, and Riley took great delight in seeing it happen.<\/p>\n
\u201cI swear that\u2019s all Pat was talking about,\u201d Spoelstra said. \u201cI don’t plan on wearing them again until the next Hall of Fame event that we get to go to.\u201d<\/p>\n
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