The Los Angeles Lakers have commissioned a statue of former player and coach Pat Riley, the team announced Monday. The new statue will be placed in Star Plaza outside the Crypto.com Arena.
Riley, the current team president of the Miami Heat, played for the Los Angeles Lakers from 1970 to 1975 and then coached the team from 1981 to 1990, helping the franchise win six championships in the process.
After spending a season working for NBC, Riley came out of retirement to coach the New York Knicks until 1995 when he became president and head coach of the Miami Heat. Riley has been exclusively associated with the Heat for a nearly three decades at this point, but maybe the Lakers finally got around to watching Winning Time.
The Lakers announced they will be commissioning a statue of Pat Riley in Star Plaza outside https://t.co/zgfUpP5Y9r Arena. pic.twitter.com/r08uI1v10u
— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) November 18, 2024
The timing of the announcement is perfect with Riley just attending the Dwyane Wade statue unveiling. Riley drafted Wade in Miami and then traded for a bunch of players to the Lakers for Shaquille O'Neal.
Magic Johnson, Jerry West, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O'Neal, Elgin Baylor and Kobe Byrant all currently have statues outside the Lakers' arena. At this point there won't be room for a LeBron James statue.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Los Angeles Lakers Getting a Statue of Miami Heat Team President Pat Riley.
