Pat Riley took his place among Lakers greats such as Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jerry West and Kobe Bryant Sunday when his statue was unveiled at Star Plaza outside Crypto.com Arena.
Riley, a scrappy player on the Lakers’ legendary 1971-72 team that won an NBA championship and authored a league-record 33-game winning streak, is better known as the coiffed, well-dressed coach of the 1980s “Showtime” team that won NBA titles in 1982, 1985, 1987 and 1988.
“The time has flown by, it really has,” Riley said. “Over the years, I regularly go back and I can recall each championship, the one play, the one moment,” Riley said.
He recalled being thrust into the Lakers coaching job in late 1981 with no prior experience as a head coach on any level.
“I didn’t think I was ready, but I knew I was ready,” he said.
Riley spent much of his speech honoring his former players, as well as longtime assistant coach Bill Bertka, who was in attendance.
“I needed the balance of his softness … when I became a little too intense,” he said.
The former coach closed with a message for Sunday’s players, including those on the 2025-26 Lakers.
“Whose footprints are you chasing today? Are they pushing you, stretching you, demanding more than you have, and more importantly, what footprints are you leaving?” he asked.
Johnson preceded Riley to the podium, and paid tribute to his former coach’s famously high standards.
“Mentally tough, physically tough, high basketball IQ, you have to have some grit and toughness, discipline. You have to be about winning. You have to love the game, (be) passionate about the game, or you couldn’t play for Pat Riley,” Johnson said.
“… Thank you for pushing me to another level.”
The 80-year-old Riley was also joined at Sunday’s unveiling by Abdul-Jabbar, team Governor Jeanie Buss, former Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade and actor Michael Douglas, who confirmed that his famous Gordon Gekko character in the 1987 film “Wall Street” was partially inspired by Riley.
“I was with Pat and (Riley’s wife) Chris … we were riding in a convertible, and I was looking at Pat, and thought `his hair is not moving, and it’s a convertible,’ and I thought, `That’s the way I want to go,”’ Douglas said.
Shaquille O’Neal, who played for Riley when the Heat won the 2006 title, submitted a video message paying tribute to Riley.
Former Lakers Jamaal Wilkes, Norm Nixon, A.C. Green, Kurt Rambis, Byron Scott, Bob McAdoo and James Worthy were in attendance, but did not speak at the ceremony.
The unveiling took place early Sunday afternoon, a few hours before the Lakers faced the Boston Celtics in their only regular-season appearance at Crypto.com Arena. Riley’s coaching tenure was marked by the fierce rivalry between the Lakers and Celtics, with the teams meeting in the NBA finals three times in the 1980s. Los Angeles won two of those matchups, suffering a bitter seven-game defeat in 1984.
Prior to becoming the Lakers’ coach. Riley was analyst beside beloved Lakers play-by-play man Chick Hearn, then as an assistant coach under Paul Westhead. He got the top job when the Lakers fired Westhead 11 games into the 1981-82 season.
Riley was the Lakers’ coach from 1981-90. In addition to the four championships, he also guided the team to the NBA finals in 1983, 1984 and 1989.
Riley also coached the New York Knicks to the 1994 NBA finals, where they lost to the Houston Rockets in seven games.
He won a fifth NBA title as a coach in 2006 with the Miami Heat. Riley coached the Heat from 1995 to 2003, and again from 2005-08. He’s been the Heat’s president since 2008.
The statue, designed by Rotblatt Amrany Studios, depicts Riley standing on the sideline with his right fist high in the air calling out a play, decked out in one of his famous designer suits.
The other Lakers immortalized with statues in Star Plaza are Hearn, Elgin Baylor and O’Neal.