EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — The Los Angeles Lakers will honor former coach Pat Riley with a statue exterior their downtown area.
The Lakers introduced Monday that they’ve commissioned a statue to face in Star Plaza immortalizing the coach who gained 4 championships with the “Showtime” Lakers of the Nineteen Eighties. Riley additionally gained championship rings with the Lakers as a participant and an assistant coach.
Riley, 79, has been a part of the Miami Warmth as a coach and government for the previous three many years, however his NBA roots are planted firmly with the Lakers. He performed for Los Angeles from 1970 to 1975, and he was a staff broadcaster earlier than changing into Paul Westhead’s assistant in 1979.
He took over as head coach in 1981 and led the Lakers via some of the dynamic eras for any staff in NBA historical past. With Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar main an thrilling staff with a groundbreaking fast-break offense, the Lakers went 533-194 (.733) in Riley’s tenure and added 102 playoff victories over 9 largely excellent seasons.
“Pat is a Lakers icon,” Lakers proprietor Jeanie Buss mentioned in a press release. “His professionalism, dedication to his craft and sport preparation paved the best way for the teaching we see throughout the league right now. My dad acknowledged Pat’s obsession and talent to take proficient gamers and coalesce them right into a championship staff. The fashion of basketball Pat and the Lakers created within the 80s remains to be the blueprint for the group right now: an entertaining and profitable staff.”
Present Lakers coach JJ Redick, whom some throughout the group have likened to Riley for his depth and sharp presentation, lauded the choice on Monday.
“Deserved,” Redick mentioned, including that he watched the Hulu documentary “Legacy: The True Story of the LA Lakers,” which options interviews with Riley, as a part of his preparation for the season. “He is a legend within the sport of basketball. And clearly did loads for this franchise. … So I am very completely happy for him. Properly deserved.”
Riley will turn out to be the eighth Lakers luminary to be honored with a statue in Star Plaza, which has turn out to be a preferred vacationer attraction. The others are Abdul-Jabbar, Johnson, Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal and broadcaster Chick Hearn.
Riley went on to educate the New York Knicks for 4 seasons earlier than changing into the Warmth’s staff president and coach in 1995. He has remained Miami’s president ever since, and he gained one other NBA title in 2006 throughout his two stints because the Warmth’s head coach.
ESPN’s Dave McMenamin contributed to this story.