The Los Angeles Lakers have announced the beginning of work on a statue honoring Pat Riley, who won six NBA Championships with the franchise. Riley made his mark on the NBA as head coach of the ‘Showtime Lakers,’ revolutionizing fast-break offense with the franchise.
Plans for the statue were shared by Governor Jeanie Buss with Riley today over a video call alongside Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Cooper, Magic Johnson, A.C. Green, Kurt Rambis, James Worthy, Vlade Divac, Karen West, and Chris Riley.
“Pat is a Lakers icon,” said Jeanie Buss. “His professionalism, commitment to his craft and game preparation paved the way for the coaching we see across the league today. My dad 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.”
Riley won four championships as a head coach (1982, 1985, 1987, 1988), one as an assistant coach (1980), and one as a player (1972), bringing his overall tally to six.
He has since gone on to become the defining figure in the history of the Miami Heat, winning three championships with the franchise (2006; as coach, 2012, 2013; as executive).
Even though Riley hasn’t worked with the Lakers for decades, he’ll always be a franchise legend who will be immortalized with a statue. He joins Elgin Baylor, Kobe Bryant, Chick Hearn, Magic Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Jerry West to have their likeness formed in bronze and displayed on Star Plaza at the arena.
The statue is set for completion in 2026, with the Lakers expected to announce the official unveiling date later.
Lakers Hoping They Find The Next Pat Riley
Pat Riley’s emergence as one of the most influential names in basketball wasn’t expected, as he joined the Lakers in the ’70s as an assistant coach because of his past as a role player on the franchise during the Jerry West era. He was part of the team’s commentary team for years before he got the gig as an assistant coach.
Taking over from Paul Westhead a season after their 1980 Championship triumph allowed him to build a one-time champion into a dynasty over the 1980s, winning four titles as head coach.
The Lakers are hoping they can replicate Riley’s success as a coach as a former role player and basketball savant with JJ Redick, who they hired this season as a complete newbie to high-level coaching based on his status as a 15-year veteran and basketball expert who was commentating national TV games for ESPN.
Riley was a contentious figure in LA by the end of his tenure, with many players resenting his style, which let Riley build his own basketball empire on the East Coast after leaving the Lakers. He first built the New York Knicks into a contender in the early ’90s before surpassing that by making the Miami Heat a championship organization in the 2000s.
Hopefully, Redick lives up to these ridiculously high expectations because he’s clearly talented, getting the Lakers off to a 9-4 start this season despite evident roster constraints.
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