Not long after the Miami Heat dedicated their court inside Kaseya Center to former head coach and longtime executive Pat Riley, the Los Angeles Lakers will do the same, this time with a statue.
The team announced Monday morning that Riley, a former Lakers player, assistant coach and head coach, will be given a statue outside of Crypto.com Arena in 2026.
“Pat is a Lakers icon,” Jeanie Buss, the Lakers’ governor, said via release. “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 spent nearly two decades with Los Angeles–six as a player, three as an assistant and nine more as a head coach–winning six combined NBA Titles. His first as a player came in 1971-72, his second season with the team.
He won one in his first year as an assistant under interim head coach Paul Westhead. He then took over for Westhead ahead of 1981-82, winning the NBA Title after going 50-21 in the regular season. It’s where the showtime Lakers–spearheaded by Hall of Famers Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar–were born.
Los Angeles went on to win three titles in a four-year span from 1984-88 before departing after two unfortunate playoff exits the following two seasons. As head coach of the Lakers, Riley went 533-194 (.733) with a 102-47 record in the postseason. He won 50-plus games in each of his nine seasons with five 60-win seasons. He also won the NBA’s Coach of the Year award in 1989-90, his last season in Los Angeles, his first of three COY awards.
This is a well-deserved honor for Riley, who will be forever immortalized into basketball greatness in Southern California, where his professional journey began in 1967 with the San Diego Rockets.
He joins Johnson, Abdul-Jabbar, Chuck Hearn, Shaquille O’Neal, Jerry West, Elgin Baylor and Kobe Bryant as those who have earned statues in Star Plaza. The official unveiling date won’t be released until a later time.
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