Editor’s note: This story is part of Peak, The Athletic’s desk covering leadership, personal development and performance through the lens of sports. Follow Peak here.
On the first day of training camp in 1995, Pat Riley introduced the Miami Heat to a conditioning drill that defined his coaching style.
It had a simple name: The Riley Test.
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In theory, it wasn’t complicated. The players were to complete a series of “17s” — a famous sideline-to-sideline sprint — in an allotted time based on their position. In practice, it was brutal, the kind of gut-busting challenge that could strike terror in NBA veterans. Keith Askins, a 6-foot-7 forward who had been in the league for five seasons, admitted he had dreaded it for two weeks.
Riley had brought the test from New York, where he used it to transform the Knicks into one of the toughest teams in the league. He was steadfast in its purpose. He had played for Adolph Rupp at Kentucky, and had studied the NFL greats — Vince Lombardi and Tom Landry and Don Shula. They all put conditioning at the forefront.
“Championships are won by teams that endure,” Riley told reporters then.
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