Lakers announce Pat Riley to receive statue outside Crypto.com Arena
Legendary Lakers head coach Pat Riley will be the latest franchise icon to receive a statue outside Crypto.com Arena.
The Showtime Lakers will be further immortalized outside Crypto.com Arena.
On Monday morning, the Lakers announced that Pat Riley will receive a statue, joining Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar from the Showtime era. The statue is set to be completed in 2026.
One of the greatest coaches of all time — The Lakers are proud to announce Pat Riley's legacy will be cemented and his statue will find a home on Star Plaza pic.twitter.com/bHkjarx8CV
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) November 18, 2024
“Pat is a Lakers icon,” Jeanie Buss said via a press 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.”
In a fun detail, the Lakers say that Riley received the news while in a video call with Kareem, Magic, Michael Cooper, A.C. Green, Kurt Rambis, James Worthy, Vlade Divac and Chris Riley. Truly, Lakers fans need to see this video.
Along with his Showtime peers, Riley joins Shaquille O’Neal, Elgin Baylor, Kobe Bryant, Chick Hearn and Jerry West. Bryant is the latest of those to receive the honor as two of three announced statues have been unveiled, including one alongside his daughter, Gigi. Hopefully, there’s some better proofreading on this statue before it’s unveiled.
Riley was part of six title-winning teams with the Lakers with his first two coming as a player (1972) and assistant coach (1980), respectively. The next four came between 1982 and 1988 as the Lakers dominated the NBA during the Showtime era.
Under Riley, the Lakers revolutionized basketball with their fastbreak style. To this day, any well-run fastbreak gets the Showtime moniker, a product of the teams Riley helped craft.
To say this is a well-earned honor would be an understatement. It’ll certainly be a joy to see Riley properly immortalized for future generations to see.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude.