Pat Riley and Danny Ainge faced each other as part of the Lakers-Celtics rivalry. They were on either side of one of the NBA's biggest ever brawls. They coached against each other. None of that amounted to beef.<br /><br />But decades into their parallel careers, Riley and Ainge became rival executives -- for the Celtics and Miami Heat, respectively -- and once provoked, their mutual animus suddenly saw the light of day. Executive beef is a whole other flavor, the stuff of press releases and seemingly pointed transactions.<br /><br />This beef took a while to marinate, but for the brief period it flared up, it was pretty funny.
