Sunday marked a special afternoon for president and former Los Angeles Lakers head coach Pat Riley, whose statue was unveiled outside of Crypto.com Arena.
The ceremony was held three hours before the Lakers’ 6:30 p.m. EST tip against the Boston Celtics. Here’s how the statue looked:
Riley, who’s been with the Heat for three decades, nearly spent two with Los Angeles — both as a player and as a coach. Nicknamed the Godfather, Riley won six titles with the Lakers, including five as a Lakers coach, including three over a four-year span from 1984-1988.
As the Lakers’ head coach, Riley went 533-194 (.733) with a 102-47 record in the postseason. In nine seasons, Riley won 50-plus games each year, 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.
Riley’s professional basketball career began in Southern California with the San Diego Rockets. Now, he’ll be forever immortalized as an all-time Lakers great. He now joins Magic Johnson, Abdul-Jabbar, Chuck Hearn, Shaquille O’Neal, Jerry West, Elgin Baylor and Kobe Bryant as those who have earned statues in Star Plaza.
Congratulations, Pat!
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Very cool. Happy for the Godfather
I think Pat is waiting for Miami to erect a statue so he can retire. If that happens, Arison should hire the guy who did Riley’s statue for the Lakers. The Wade statue in Miami sucks (it was probably low bid).
Wade called the statue “beautiful” when it was unveiled in Miami. But critics said the statue’s face looks more like actors Laurence Fishburne or Kelsey Grammer.
Yup. We took a picture when we visited. It’s not a good likeness as we know, whereas the Riley statue is excellent.
L.A. teams spare no expenses. Dodgers, Lakers, Clippers, Rams. Yup.
Riley should have Wade’s head removed and replaced with a better likeness of him.
So many teams have statues that look like the players/coaches they represent, and the Heat seemingly looked to recreate the Ronaldo bronze bust instead. Crazy.