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NBA: Coaching legend Riley selected to Hall of Fame

Three-time coach of the year Pat Riley and two foreign-born players, Hakeem Olajuwon and Patrick Ewing, were selected to US basketball��s Hall of Fame on Monday.

Riley, one of the most successful coaches in National Basketball Association (NBA) history, will be joined in the class of 2008 by Olajuwon, Ewing, ex-player Adrian Dantley and Detroit Pistons owner Bill Davidson.

One of Ewing��s coaches during his 17-year career was Riley, who won five championships, four with the Los Angeles Lakers and one with the Miami Heat.

Riley also appeared in the NBA Finals nine times, including with the Knicks in 1994.

Two of the top centers in the NBA from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, Olajuwon and Ewing have more in common than their frequent clashes in the professional ranks. Both foreign-born players, Olajuwon grew up playing more soccer than basketball as a child in his native Nigeria.

Ewing was born in Jamaica before eventually moving to the US as a child.

��He and I are a lot alike,�� Ewing said. ��We both came from different countries. We both had a lot of raw talent, but we both were involved with some very special people and here we are.��

Ewing never believed that he would one day be among the greats honored.

��I never thought that I would be among them,�� he said. ��It was not until college that I had an idea how good I could be.��

There would be numerous battles between the two centers over the years with the biggest being the 1994 NBA Finals, where Olajuwon��s Houston Rockets edged Ewing and the New York Knicks in seven games.

It was the first of back-to-back NBA crowns for Olajuwon and Houston.

��Hakeem was the hardest player I had to face,�� Ewing said. ��I beat him in college, he beat me in the NBA.��

Dantley caught the tail end of what has been considered the golden age of big man, playing 15 years with such teams as the Buffalo Braves, the Pistons, Utah Jazz and the Lakers.

A six-time all-star and the league��s leading scorer in 1984, Dantley tallied 23,177 career points, ranking 23rd on the all-time scoring list. One of the owners that Dantley worked under was Davidson, who has served as the owner of the Pistons since 1974. He has won three NBA titles in that time.
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