Before last Monday's game in Los Angeles, Stan Van Gundy was invited to Pat Riley's oceanfront estate in Malibu.

"Pat's basically spent the last six weeks convincing me or trying to convince me to think about it more and more," Van Gundy, 46, said. "We finally met in L.A., the day before the Clippers game, and he spent another three or four hours, plied me with some good Mexican food in Malibu, and tried to convince me to stay.

"As much as I appreciate that and the confidence he had in me and everything else, it didn't change the time away from the family."

Riley said at that meeting the seeds were planted for Monday's transition.

"I went out to Los Angeles for three reasons," Riley said. "The first was to talk to Stan. The second one was to visit a hip-replacement clinic and the third one was to go to a Malibu commissioners' meeting for final approval of a house that I'm going to build there one day, and I got that."

The hip surgery has been placed on hold.

"I have a responsibility to this team and to the players I traded for, picked, signed," Riley said. "And I think right now, at this moment, that I'm the best person to do that."