Riley Tops Sporting News Poll; Barkley Edges Magic

Lakers Coach Pat Riley has been selected by his peers as The Sporting News’ Coach of the Year and NBA players have voted Philadelphia 76ers forward Charles Barkley over Magic Johnson as Player of the Year, the St. Louis-based publication said today,

In close voting by NBA coaches, Riley won by two votes over Rick Adelman of Portland and Jim Lynam of Philadelphia. Larry Brown of San Antonio and Chuck Daly of Detroit tied for third place.

The Lakers, the first team in NBA history to win 60 games in four consecutive seasons, have won the Pacific Division title in each of Riley’s nine seasons as coach.

Riley has compiled a 533-194 record and a winning percentage of .733, the best in NBA history. He has more playoff victories than any other coach (102) and is the 13th coach to win 500 games.

The Lakers won 63 regular-season games this season and were eliminated by the Phoenix Suns in conference semifinals.

In balloting by 180 NBA players for Sporting News Player of the Year, Barkley received 57 1/2 votes. Johnson received 44 1/2. Chicago’s Michael Jordan was third with 44 votes, followed by New York’s Patrick Ewing with 21 1/2 and Houston’s Akeem Olajuwon with seven.

During the regular season, Barkley averaged 25.2 points a game and 11.5 rebounds. The Sixers had a regular-season record of 53-29 and were eliminated by the Bulls in conference semifinals.

For the second straight year, Jordan was the leading vote-getter for The Sporting News’ NBA All-Star Team. He is joined on the first team by Barkley, Johnson, Utah’s Karl Malone and Ewing.

San Antonio center David Robinson was chosen the NBA Rookie of the Year. Runner-up was Tim Hardaway of Golden State.