Miami Heat president Pat Riley fired back at an entire summer's worth of critics who made negative remarks about his free-agent haul of Chris Bosh and LeBron James, a list which includes two members of the Orlando Magicc's leadership team.
Before getting to Riley's incendiary comments, some background: Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy referred to Bosh as Heat guard Dwyane Wade's "lapdog" earlier this summer, while GM Otis Smith questioned James' competitive spirit for joining two All-Stars in Miami rather than staying in Cleveland.
And Riley? Nope, not happy about what those men had to say, reports Michael Wallace of the Miami Herald:
"When Otis Smith made a point about LeBron's competitiveness because he didn't stay in Cleveland, I thought it was an absolutely stupid remark," Riley said Friday. "He never made any kind of comment like that when he signed (forward) Rashard Lewis, and brought him down from Seattle to a $128 million Pat and Stan contract."
Of Van Gundy, Riley said, "I don't know what happened to some of these guys along the way."
Given the war of words, the teams' proximity to one another, and level of competition, it's quite clear that the games between the two will be hard-fought, contentious, heated, and entertaining. The first game happens October 29th in Miami, which is the Heat's home opener; they'll also battle in the preseason on October 22nd, but that one won't count in the standings, obviously. Buckle up.