Riley’s Fast Break : The L.A. Lakers’ coach has risen quickly to the task of marketing his looks and inspirational skills.

For Coach Pat Riley, there’s a lot more riding on a third consecutive Los Angeles Lakers National Basketball Assn. championship than another ring on his finger.

A series win over the Pistons could also mean hundreds of thousands of promotional dollars in his pocket. Much of it comes from motivational speeches he gives to corporations such as Exxon--which earn him up to $15,000 each. And while Riley is currently a pitchman for six products--from Southern California Chrysler-Plymouth Dealers to Transamerica--marketing experts say he has yet to really cut the mustard as a big-time, national TV spokesman.

That, however, could change with all the speed of a Magic Johnson no-look pass. In fact, if the Lakers beat the Pistons for a third straight championship, some sports marketing experts project that Riley could soon be earning well over $2 million annually from a combination of his speeches, personal appearances and commercials. That’s several times more than his base annual salary with the Lakers, which is reportedly $650,000.

In a brief telephone interview Tuesday from his hotel room in Troy, Mich.--hours before the game--Riley said his success as a product pitchman goes hand in hand with his success as a basketball coach.

“I turned down offers for years,” said Riley. “I had to develop my credibility as a coach before I could become a credible product spokesman.”

These days, Riley seems to get as much air time selling Chryslers for the Southern California Chrysler-Plymouth Dealers Assn. as he gets for coaching the Lakers. He is also a West Coast spokesman for Pepsi. Riley was featured in an ad for Rolaids, a regional print campaign for Transamerica Life Cos., and appeared with a cavalcade of stars in a commercial for Revlon that ran during the Academy Awards. He is also under contract to Reebok, although he has yet to appear in any of the athletic shoe maker’s ads.

“All of these things are a direct result of my coaching. If I wasn’t a good coach, they’d fall by the wayside,” said Riley. “Of course, I’m not going to be a coach forever, so I hope some of these relationships can continue once my career as a coach does end.”

That is probably years off. Of more pressing concern to Riley--and those who consult Riley on his business ventures--is how the Lakers fare against the Pistons.

“Everybody loves a winner,” said Marc Reede, president of Promotional Sportstars, a Beverly Hills firm that books all of Riley’s speaking engagements. “If he loses, there might be certain bookings he won’t get. Some might say, ‘Gee, let’s give (Detroit Coach) Chuck Daly a call.’ ”

But whether the Lakers win or loose, Riley is charging more than ever these days for personal appearances. In fact, Riley has recently raised his speaking fees to $15,000 from the $10,000 that he charged last year when he gave about 60 speeches during the off season, said Reede.

“We’re to the point now where we have to be very selective about his engagements,” said Reede, who estimates he is now getting 10 to 15 calls daily about Riley’s availability. “We thought it would be a way to cut demand if we raised the price, but most people we see don’t even blink when we say $15,000.”

In fact, Riley’s first corporate speech after the season ends will be June 27 in Dallas, when he is scheduled to speak to Abbott Laboratories executives on the topic “Staying One Step Ahead of the Posse.” During the off season, he is also scheduled to speak to such diverse groups as Arby’s Roast Beef and First American Title. Reede said Riley writes all of his own speeches.

“After the speeches,” said Reede, “he signs every photo and shakes every hand and makes everyone feel important.”

Still, it may be some time before Riley pulls in the kind of fees that some of his peers are getting. Former football coach and current CBS television sports analyst John Madden, for example, earns nearly twice what Riley does for a single speech--nearly $30,000.

Growing National Celebrity

Riley’s biggest handicap, say marketing executives, is the advertising world’s general perception of him as a West Coast commodity.

“Right now, his appeal may be more skewed to the West Coast,” said Bud Stanner, senior vice president at International Management Co., a Cleveland sports marketing firm. “But that can change. Pat Riley is a very, very marketable sports celebrity. His team gets lots of TV exposure. He’s attractive. And he’s smart.”

Riley’s other marketing problem is his lack of available time. Unlike retired coaches--such as Madden--who have plenty of time to stand in front of TV cameras, Riley’s free time is mostly limited to the off-season months of July through October.

“He has a schedule that could choke a horse,” said John Morgan, senior director of marketing at Reebok International. “Now, in particular, we should be doing ads with him. We’d love to get a full day to shoot a commercial with him, but it’s not possible.”

Just ask the officials at Southern California Chrysler-Plymouth. They had to pack four TV commercials and 10 radio spots featuring Riley into just a few days of filming. “It’s very tough to spring him loose,” said Dan White, manager of the Studio City-based Southern California Chrysler-Plymouth Dealers Assn. “He doesn’t have the time to devote to us that we’d like.”

That hasn’t stopped Chrysler from paying Riley what experts estimate is $100,000 annually--plus the use of a $23,000 Chrysler New Yorker. And next year, Chrysler’s Los Angeles ad agency Bozell expects to start placing Riley inside the cars--instead of almost always standing outside the vehicles tossing around a basketball.

“I think he’s a hell of a coach,” said Jim Preston, sales manager at Domenich Basso Chrysler-Plymouth in downtown Los Angeles. “And I hope he keeps his job with Chrysler. But to tell you the truth, I can’t say anyone ever came in here and said they were sent by Pat Riley. Of course, we still get some people who say Ricardo Montalban sent them.”

THE MONEY IN MOTIVATION

A third NBA championship would improve Laker Coach Pat Riley’s earning power as a celebrity. (Above, a Chrysler ad). Here is what a few sports figures make per speech on the inspiration circuit:

Celebrity Work $ per speech John Madden TV broadcaster $30,000 O.J. Simpson TV broadcaster 25,000 Pat Riley Basketball coach 15,000 Dennis Conner Yachtsman 15,000 Tommy Lasorda Baseball manager 12,500 Dick Enberg TV broadcaster 12,500 Rick Pitino Basketball coach 10,000 Roger Staubach Ex-football player 6,500 John Robinson Football coach 6,500 John Wooden Ex-basketball coach 6,000 Pat Haden Ex-football player 4,000

For one round on the golf course:

Celebrity Work $ per speech Arnold Palmer Golfer 40,000-50,000 Jack Nicklaus Golfer 40,000-50,000

Source: Promotional Sportstars