Pat Riley denied insinuations that LeBron James tried to have Erik Spoelstra fired as head coach of the Miami Heat during his tenure with the franchise.

"Not from him to me, ever," Riley said Thursday of James, who left the Heat two seasons ago in free agency to return to Cleveland. "So a lot of stuff is following him out the door. Whether it's right or wrong, it's just the nature of it. But as far as that goes, no, he never, ever walked in and said anything."

Riley's comments come on the heels of Israel-based reports earlier this week in which Heat limited ownership partner Raanan Katz suggested James was largely responsible for David Blatt's firing and he tried to do the same with Spoelstra.

The rumors James has dealt with actually remind Riley of his own experiences leaving the Lakers and the Knicks.

"I've been in that situation twice," said Riley. "I left Los Angeles, and a lot of stuff followed me out the door to New York. A lot of stuff followed me down here to Miami. It took almost 10 years to sort of get out of that storyline."