Lakers to honor Showtime-era coach Pat Riley with statue outside Crypto.com Arena
Not much is known about the next statue the Lakers plan to have erected outside Crypto.com Arena.
But it is almost certain that sculpture will be well-dressed and have impeccable hair.
The team announced Monday that Showtime-era coach Pat Riley will be the next Lakers legend to be honored with a statue on Star Plaza outside the arena.
“Pat is a Lakers icon,” Lakers controlling owner Jeanie Buss said in a statement released Monday by the team. “His professionalism, commitment to his craft and game preparation paved the way for the coaching we see across the league today.”
Buss added that her father, Lakers owner Jerry Buss, “recognized Pat’s obsession and ability to take talented players and coalesce them into a championship team. The style of basketball Pat and the Lakers created in the 80s is still the blueprint for the organization today: an entertaining and winning team.”
Many took to social media to ridicule the new Dwyane Wade statue. The Heat legend thinks it’s ‘beautiful.’ The artist says critics may not remember what Wade looked like in action.
As an NBA player, Riley spent five of his 10 seasons with the Lakers, winning a championship with the organization in 1972. After retiring, Riley became an assistant coach with the Lakers in the 1979-80 season and was promoted to head coach after Paul Westhead was fired early in the 1981-82 season.
Known for his slicked-backed hair and Armani suits, Riley coached the Lakers to NBA titles in 1982, 1985, 1987 and 1988 before stepping down after the team lost to the Phoenix Suns in the 1990 Western Conference semifinals. He went on to win another NBA title as head coach and team president of the Miami Heat in 2006 and won two others in his executive role with the Heat in 2013 and 2014.
Riley will be joining three players that he coached with statues outside Crypto.com Arena — Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, both members of the Showtime Lakers, and Shaquille O’Neal, who won a championship with Riley’s Heat in 2006. Riley’s former Lakers teammate Jerry West and broadcast partner Chick Hearn are also honored with sculptures in the plaza, as are Kobe Bryant and Elgin Baylor.
The Riley statue is scheduled to be completed in 2026.
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