How did "The Godfather" recruited "The King"?

A very inspirational story behind Pat Riley’s “magic move”, uniting the forces of the so called “the big three” in Miami(James -1st, Wade -4th & Bosh 5th pick in 2003 draft), making the Heat’s the powerhouse in 2010 and the years to follow.

Throughout the early-to-mid ‘90s, Riley’s Knicks were tough, resilient, and competitive, but they never won any hardware. Riley wanted autonomy, control, and ownership, but he couldn’t have it in the Mecca of basketball. So in 1995, Riley disencumbered himself from a messy power struggle in New York and assumed full control of the Miami Heat. This slick move earned him the nickname “The Godfather” in NBA circles. After winning titles with the Heat in ‘06, ‘12, and ‘13, Riley cemented himself as the don of NBA basketball: a good player, an all-time great coach, and a certifiably brilliant executive. In other words, 9 time champ!

While everyone expected a relaxing summer with rum, cigars and salsa for the Heats back office, Riley was cooking one of the biggest “go-to-market” moves in the history of basketball.

Meanwhile in Cleveland, all of the upsides were gone, leaving only a 25-year-old small forward who after seven hype filled seasons had failed to produce a championship, who admitted that he didn't have the grace to personally tell his former team's owner that he was leaving: an announcement made over media.

During the summer of 2010, LeBron was interviewing, with Nets, Knicks, Bulls & Spurs, while the Heats were not in the radar. Usually, this kind of interviews are similar to flirting with models, private yachts, jets, and fancy dinners, but that was not how Riley pitched James.

Peoples like Magic Johnson, Shaq O'Neal, Patrick Ewing and counting, know firsthand just how persuasive Riley can be when he gets you in a room with a major decision to make. Like them, James still hasn’t forgotten the impact of Riley’s personal touch.

During the meeting in 2010 in Cleveland, he pulled out one of the nine championship rings he has won as a player, executive, head coach and assistant coach, out of his fancy bag of rings.

And he proposed:

“Try it on you”