Pat Riley reveals status of LeBron James’ relationship after rocky Heat split — as free agency rumors swirl

Could Pat Riley welcome back LeBron James with open arms if he decided to sign with the Miami Heat during NBA free agency?

Riley appeared as a guest on “The Dan LeBatard Show” on Monday morning and talked about how he’s let go of the past and the current state of his relationship with James.

“I’ve seen him around, run into him at All-Star games, we had a great embrace when they honored me with a statue out there,” Riley said. “Seeing he and Savannah in the stands at certain things, she’s always been a really gracious, wonderful person.”

Between 2010-2014, James was playing under Riley, who still serves as the Miami Heat’s team president.

During this four-year span, he was playing alongside Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh, where James was a two-time NBA champion (2012 & 2013) and was crowned the NBA Finals MVP and league MVP (2012 & 2013.)

In 2014, the Heat were back in the NBA Finals looking for a three-peat but would end up being stunned as the San Antonio Spurs eliminated them 4-1.

James would become a free agent that year and ended up reuniting with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Riley admitted that he was disappointed with James’ decision to go back to Cleveland, as they believed the Heat were on the verge of becoming a dynasty.

“LeBron and I, we haven’t talked much, but you let go of that stuff,” Riley said. “I was very disappointed because I thought we were looking at a dynasty, or something dynastic, and we now had a chance to add other players to it in 14.”

Riley went on to say he didn’t want to hang on to that and would like to see him at the golf course someday, despite not being a golfer.

On Saturday, Kalshi betting odds had the Heat as the new favorites to land the future Hall of Famer.