Riley says mother?s passing won?t deter from his team?s playoff push
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Riley ran the Heat?s shoot-around practice on Saturday morning, less than 24 hours after learning that his 96-year-old mother, Mary, had died in his native upstate New York. The Heat were to open their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series against the Chicago Bulls later Saturday night.
?Yesterday was a blow. There?s no doubt,? Riley said. ?But I?m ready to roll. We?re ready to roll. It?s not going to affect me.?
It?s believed that Riley will also coach Monday?s second game of the best-of-seven series, with Game 3 scheduled in Chicago on Thursday night. The team has not announced if Riley will leave the team in the coming days for his mother?s funeral service.
Riley missed Miami?s final two regular season games to be with his mother, who lived in a retirement community not far from the Schenectady, N.Y., area where he was raised. He was with the Heat on Thursday night and ran practice Friday, and players have said game planning for the Bulls continued as usual.
?I spent four days in New York with my family, with my mother, and during the process of being there also I was able to do some things,? Riley said. ?I was getting ready while I was up there.?
Riley?s players were somewhat emotional after being told of Mary Riley?s death.
?It?s devastating to lose anybody in your family,? said backup Heat center Alonzo Mourning, who missed Saturday?s game while still recovering from a torn calf muscle. ?But I don?t know a man who?s not close with his mom.?