Two of an Elite Kind, in Sharp Contrast : Pat Riley: The joy of being voted this season’s coach of the year is dampened by the Lakers’ need to win Game 5 against Phoenix tonight.

Leave it to Laker Coach Pat Riley, always seeking motivational material, to turn his long-delayed award as the NBA’s coach of the year into a challenge going into Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals tonight against the Phoenix Suns.

Only this time, Riley used it as motivation for himself rather than his team, a loss away from early elimination after finishing with the NBA’s best regular-season record.

“I am ready now to see if I can coach,” Riley said, smirking.

What should have been a joyous occasion for Riley, who had been routinely overlooked by sportswriters for the award while guiding the Lakers to four of their five NBA titles in the 1980s, was tempered considerably by the Lakers’ plight.

At a Forum news conference Monday morning, the dapper Riley wryly noted the irony of receiving the award the day before the Lakers face early elimination from the playoffs for the first time since the Houston Rockets ousted them in the 1986 conference finals.

“I thought I was walking into a gas chamber when I walked in here today,” Riley said. “I know it’s ironic right now with our backs against the wall, but it does not minimize exactly how I feel. I will cherish this award.”

Riley, whose 533-194 record in nine seasons is the best in NBA history, received 52 of 92 votes from selected sportswriters and broadcasters in each NBA city.

Jim Lynam, who led the Philadelphia 76ers to the Atlantic Division title, finished second with 14 1/2 votes, and Rick Adelman of the Portland Trail Blazers finished third with 12 1/2 votes. Chuck Daly of the Detroit Pistons had five and Larry Brown of the San Antonio Spurs had four. Voting was done at the end of the regular season.

Riley has led the Lakers to nine consecutive Pacific Division titles. In a milestone this season, Riley reached 500 victories quicker than any other coach, and he has more playoff victories, 102, than any coach.

Riley had often joked that he had received more recognition for never having won the award than he would have if he had won it. Last season, for instance, Phoenix Coach Cotton Fitzsimmons won the award, and Riley received one of a possible 88 votes.

This season, the Lakers’ first in 14 without Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, they finished 63-19, the franchise’s third-best record. But the Lakers have faltered in the playoffs, losing once to Houston in the first round and three of four games so far to the Suns.

Riley, admittedly distracted by the Lakers’ predicament, nonetheless was gracious and, at times, self-deprecating in accepting the honor Monday. When Jerry West, the Laker general manager, introduced Riley by saying how proud he was of his coach’s record, Riley quipped, “What, 533 wins or 1-3?”

In an odd way, winning the award has been a detriment to some. Five of the last 10 recipients are no longer head coaches. The last coach of the year whose team went on to to win the championship that season was the Lakers’ Bill Sharman in 1971-72.

“Jerry told me last week, so I’ve been carrying this ever since we got beat the very first game against Phoenix,” Riley said. “I was thinking about all the history of the coaches of the year getting fired immediately after that.”

Riley expressed his thanks to Laker management for supplying talent, Laker players for performing consistently well and assistant coaches Bill Bertka, Randy Pfund and Jim Eyan for their support.

The last three seasons, there has been speculation that Riley would leave the Lakers to become a broadcaster. Rumors persist that he is a candidate for a commentator’s role next season when NBC takes over coverage of the NBA.

Monday, Riley denied having talked to NBC. Sunday, he confirmed that Jerry Buss, the Lakers’ owner, has expressed an interest in extending Riley’s contract, which runs another two seasons. Riley said he and Buss will talk after the season.

“I read, like Chuck Daly reads and like everybody else, who (the networks) want to work for them, and my name keeps coming up all the time,” Riley said. “So, I just have to answer questions about it. It makes interesting reading and, believe me, it doesn’t help in any type of contract negotiations with Jerry. At all.

“Everybody assumes (he is leaving). Why are you assuming that? That I’m fed up? I’ve never said that.”

Riley said he remains interested in coaching the Lakers mainly because he still feels an emotional charge.

“The passion and the intensity of the job is what makes me feel alive,” he said. “I can do without the travel and a lot of the things on the periphery that get in the way of the joy. But it’s what I do best right now in my life. It’s what I love to do. . . .

“I can’t think of myself being anywhere else. But I can’t specifically say, because things change. The only thing you can count on in life is the permanence of change. So, I can’t say I’ll coach here the rest of my life .”

Riley said that, despite coaching the same core of players for nearly a decade, he can still relate to them and they still listen to him.

“I know there’s always something you hear about, that they’re tired of the same old song,” Riley said. “As long as you keep staying truthful and dealing with the present moment--I know I get accused of conjuring up all these motivational ploys and all this stuff--you can stay connected. . . .

“Now, it’s a little different. The routine has set in. But it’s not less exciting. The thing that really ignites myself . . . is the competition, being down on the floor, the intensity. That’s where it is right now. (Tonight) will either bring out the best in the Lakers or the worst.”