Van Gundy resigns post in Miami

Veteran Riley to assume coaching duties for 11-10 Heat

? Pat Riley is again the coach of the Miami Heat, replacing Stan Van Gundy following his resignation Monday for family reasons.

Riley, whom Van Gundy succeeded on the bench shortly before the 2003-04 season, will make his debut tonight when Miami opens a four-game road trip in Chicago.

“I will get back into this quickly,” said Riley, the 60-year-old team president. He said he hadn’t even looked at a playbook for two years.

Riley coached the team from 1995-03 after winning four titles with the Los Angeles Lakers and a stint with the New York Knicks.

Players were not available for immediate comment. The team left for Chicago on Monday, shortly before the news conference announcing the shake-up and learning of Van Gundy’s decision.

Van Gundy said he resigned voluntarily.

“I made this decision for one reason and one reason only: I love my family,” Van Gundy said. He said that because of travel, games and practices, he would have seen his children at home only 49 days out of 170 this season.

“That’s just not enough any more for me. It’s just not enough,” Van Gundy said. “I mean, it’s been like that for my kids’ entire lives. I’ve got a 14-year-old daughter, and it started to hit me when I started thinking about her birthday, which was last month. I’ve got four more years left with her. Four. And then she’ll be off to college and I’m just not willing to sacrifice any more of those four more years.”