Game time was fast approaching at America West Arena when former BYU basketball coach Roger Reid checked his watch.
"I've got to get going," he said with a smile. "Or I'm going to get fired."Once words to die by.
After more than a year away from the game, Reid's coaching career has resumed with the NBA's Phoenix Suns. The pain associated with the unexpected loss of his dream job in Provo has finally eased.
"Right now, I'm as excited as a little kid," Reid said. "I can't worry so much about yesterday or tomorrow, but I can do a good job today."
And on this day, his duties involved stopping Pat Riley and the Miami Heat.
"It's really a thrill," Reid said before his third game as an assistant to Suns coach Danny Ainge. "It's exciting to be at the level where you're dealing with the best players in the world."
Though he never applied for the job, Reid finds himself sitting on an NBA bench with a multiyear contract in his pocket.
It all began with a telephone call to Reid's home in Spanish Fork on New Year's Day. The caller was Ainge, who starred at BYU when Reid was an assistant coach under Frank Arnold.
Ainge was looking to fill a position vacated by Donn Nelson's decision to join his father, Mavericks coach Don Nelson, in Dallas. In typical fashion, Ainge got straight to the point.
"He said, `I'd love to have you come down here and help me be successful,' " Reid recalled.
Impressed with the impact college coaches P.J. Carlesimo, Rick Pitino and John Calipari have had on the NBA, Ainge wanted someone with a similar background in Phoenix. He also sought diversity for a staff that consisted only of former NBA players Ainge's age and younger. He considered asking Arnold or another former BYU coach, Ladell Anderson. But his choice to join Scott Skiles, Frank Johnson and special assistant Tom Chambers was Reid.
"Roger was the guy at the top of my list," Ainge said. "This is a guy that I feel can help me the most with my coaching responsibility."
Eight days after the first in a series of phone conversations, Reid was officially given the job. He made his debut on the bench Jan. 13.
"Roger is a coach I've always respected. We had a great relationship when I was playing at BYU and he was my assistant coach. He was a great motivator to me," Ainge said. "I've always respected the way his teams have played.
And probably more important than anything is that I trust him. I need someone I can rely on, someone that is content with being my assistant coach and doing things to help me become better."
Reid fits the bill.
"My whole position right now is to give Danny Ainge everything I've got to help him," he said. "If Danny wants me to shine his shoes, then that's what I'll do. My job is to be loyal and help him in any way, in any capacity. That's where my focus is now."
Make no mistake, Reid was hired for his basketball knowledge, however.
"Danny wanted somebody sitting next to him who has been a coach for a long time, who has experienced all the nuances of coaching," Chambers said. "I think he feels comfortable with someone who is going to be by him for a long time."
Reid's resume includes a 152-77 record at BYU and successful stints at the high school level. Since leaving the Cougars, he turned down interim head coaching jobs at the University of Michigan and South Alabama.
The NBA and a chance to work with Ainge, however, was too much to pass up. Reid took the job after deciding it was the right thing for him and his family.
"Roger is not going to make as much money here with the Phoenix Suns as he was in the severance package (with BYU), but at the same time he wants to get back into coaching," Ainge said. "This is a dream come true for him, and I'm just happy to have a guy like that who is 50 years old and feels like a kid in a candy store. He loves being here, and I have a great deal of trust in him."
Ainge has discussed the matter with BYU athletic director Rondo Fehlberg. In fact, Reid stands to lose some, if not all, of a parting settlement with the university.
"I asked if I had a tithing credit in any way for saving BYU some payroll by bringing Roger on with me," Ainge joked. "Rondo said he'd `take that up and see if he could have my tithing decreased to 8 percent for life.' "
On a more serious note, Ainge believes everything will work out for the better.
"In the long run, it's going to benefit me and it's going to benefit Roger," he said. "I think Roger's going to be happier here with me than he would have been had he stayed at BYU."
Reid can only hope so.
Despite his 1996 Christmastime firing, the Springville native still bleeds BYU blue. This is a guy who as a child used to watch games through a chain-link fence at the old Smith Fieldhouse.
"There's never been a more obsessed, loyal Cougar fan," Reid said. "I wanted to coach at BYU and win a national championship there . . . I'll always have a love for BYU. If I wanted to go someplace else, I could have been offered many jobs, leaving BYU for double the money I was getting."
Reid ultimately had no choice in the matter. Citing a severe decline in attendance, he was fired by Fehlberg. The dismissal followed a series of criticisms of Reid that included having his sons Randy and Robbie on the team and that his teams played boring basketball.
Reid dismissed the latter by noting his BYU teams ranked among the top scoring squads in the WAC. And his son, Robbie, who transferred to Michigan after serving a church mission, is the nationally ranked Wolverines' starting point guard.
"Evidentally," Reid points out. "He really can play."
And then there was "The Comment."
Reid will forever be remembered for his remark to recruit Chris Burgess that he disappointed "9 million people" for choosing Duke over BYU.
"To make a thing out of that is the biggest joke in the world," Reid maintains. "I mean I can't even imagine that."
Although Reid said he'll never forget being fired just before Christmas, he says any bitterness is in the past.
"I was never really talked to about specific things, but I don't have any animosity. Life goes on," Reid said. "Everybody has to live with their decisions right or wrong. They made a decision that they think was best for BYU and that's fine.
"Right now," he added. "Roger Reid is happy and I'm excited there are new things going on in life."
Reid, himself, has been comforted by what he calls "mind-boggling support" from family, friends and fans. Even coaching foes Rick Majerus and Don Haskins have been supportive.
Of the firing, Reid, a devout Mormon, said he felt like an LDS mission president who was released and sent home before he finished his job. To him, coaching at BYU was like a church calling. Something he took very seriously.
"BYU is a unique place, and I don't think you can sacrifice the goals, standards and mission at BYU for winning," Reid said. "If you get away from that, somewhere along the line you'll get embarrassed.
"BYU has been very good to me and I have great respect. Hopefully, there might be a time when I could go back there in some capacity," Reid said. "I think that in my 20 years there and seeing all the issues in the athletic programs, I could help BYU."
Reid dismissed any thoughts of reclaiming his basketball post but didn't rule out becoming the school's athletic director someday.
"Down the road whenever Rondo feels like he's run his course and I'm still available, sure, I'd like to look at something like that because I have a lot to offer, not only in the basketball area," he said.
In the meantime, Reid is property of the Suns.
"He brings an excitement to the game. He loves it. He was a great coach at BYU, and though he just got here I think we've all accepted him," Phoenix guard Jason Kidd said. "We all know he's going to help us in the long run. We're going to listen to him. Right now, we're just getting to know him."
Chambers said there will be a period of adjustment but that Reid will be able to adapt from the college to professional game in time to help the Suns this season.
Challenges are nothing new for Reid, who is still hobbled by hip surgeries. He's already overcome his profession's biggest hurdle.
"I think it's always tough when they say the word `fired.' Somewhere along the line that says you are no good," Reid said. "That word was a stigma. I hated it. But, hey, people get fired. So I'm just cherishing the moment. We could all be fired next week. If that happens, I've been through it enough where I could live with it. It's just part of the occupation now."
Ainge, who said he and Reid have never discussed what happened at BYU, agrees. Like Reid, he is still a staunch supporter of the Cougars.
"I believe coaches are going to get fired whoever they are. Just like I know I'll get fired here someday," he said. "My philosophy in life is that Roger should look at it and say `thank you for the opportunity. Maybe I don't feel like I deserved to be fired, but I'll move on.' "
And thanks to Ainge, Roger Reid has.