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Question
#50500. philsgirl
asks:
Which award-winning NBA coach was an 11th round draft pick for the Dallas Cowboys?
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gtho4
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Pat Riley
With an impressive resume filled with numerous milestones throughout his 20-year coaching career, Riley has divided his time between the Miami HEAT, New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers. As a head coach, he has clinched 16 divisional championships, eight conference championships and four NBA championships. Honored as the NBA Coach of the Year on three occasions, Riley is the only coach in NBA history to receive the award with three different teams.
Playing quarterback for Linton High School, in upstate New York, where he starred in both basketball and football, Riley received an offer to play football for legendary coach Paul “Bear” Bryant at Alabama. He declined, deciding to put all his efforts toward pursuing his basketball career.
All the more impressive, Riley, a truly gifted athlete, was an 11th round draft choice of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys in 1967, even though he never even played a minute of college football. Once again, however, Riley kept his sights set on the NBA. He was drafted in the first round (seventh overall) of the 1967 NBA draft by the San Diego Rockets, and after three seasons, joined the Lakers to play for five years, where he was a member of the 1971 NBA Championship team led by Wilt Chamberlain. Riley finished his playing days with the 1976 Western Conference Champion Phoenix Suns.
http://www.nba.com/heat/chat/profile0203_riley.html
Aug 24 04, 12:25 AM
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