Pat Riley honored with statue as pat riley reflects on LeBron and the Heat Big Three
Los Angeles celebrated Pat Riley on Sunday with a nearly 8-foot, 510-pound bronze statue outside Crypto. com Arena, and pat riley used the occasion to revisit his coaching style and his time building Miami’s Big Three. The unveiling, held before the Lakers hosted the Boston Celtics, combined on-court folklore, family inscription and remarks about LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.
Statue and design details
The bronze rendering stands nearly 8 feet tall and weighs 510 pounds. It depicts Riley in a Giorgio Armani suit with a crocodile leather belt, holding his right fist high in the air — the Showtime Lakers signal for Magic Johnson to pass to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for his signature skyhook throughout the 1980s. The base carries an inscription Riley attributed to his father, Leon Riley: “There will come a time when you are challenged, and when that time comes, you must plant your feet. You must stand firm. You must make a point. About who you are, what you do, and where you come from. When that time comes, you do it. ”
Pat Riley on suits and sidelines
Riley, who is currently the Miami Heat's team president and last roamed the sidelines in 2008 after 24 seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers, the New York Knicks and the Heat, said he would still be wearing suits if he were coaching today. “I wish it went back to coat and ties, ” he said of the NBA coaches' current dress code of team-issued polos, quarter-zips and sweaters. He added, “I think an audience wants to see somebody on the sidelines who looks like a leader, dresses like a leader, acts like a leader. ” The league adopted the casual wardrobe during the 2020 bubble and the NBA Coaches Association voted to keep the relaxed look.
Ceremony, guests and moments
The statue was unveiled prior to Sunday’s home game against the rival Boston Celtics and stands between statues of Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The curtain was lifted amid purple and gold confetti. Present at the unveiling and on the dais were Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Dwyane Wade and Lakers acting owner Jeanie Buss; acclaimed actor Michael Douglas also sat on the dais and spoke about a personal anecdote involving Riley. Douglas recalled, in paraphrase, riding with Riley in Miami in a red Mercury convertible with the top down and noticing Riley’s hair not moving, which inspired the look he used for Gordon Gekko in a movie role.
Showtime teammates and Lakers tributes
Riley was among a group of “Showtime” Lakers who attended the ceremony, including James Worthy, A. C. Green, Bob McAdoo, Kurt Rambis, Norm Nixon and Byron Scott. Jeanie Buss, whose father Jerry Buss hired Riley, hosted the ceremony and said that 40 years earlier Riley had associated coaching with “dignity, respect, pride, ” values she said he still lives by. When the statue was unveiled, Riley smiled and offered a thumbs up; the celebration continued at halftime with Johnson emceeing a midcourt ceremony in front of a sold-out crowd. At halftime Riley said, “I was born to be a Laker in 1970 at the Forum with these guys right here, ” while pointing to the former Lakers lined up behind him. He joked, “And of all of them, there's only one who has shown me true respect today, and that's James Worthy, who has a tie on, ” adding, “Everybody's got a little too casual — $2, 000 fine for everybody. ”
Riley on the Heat Big Three and legacy
Riley spoke about LeBron James and JJ Redick during a pregame news conference and revisited the decision to recruit LeBron to Miami in 2010, when he put LeBron together with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. “I thought getting the Big Three — Dwyane, Chris Bosh and especially LeBron — that we had finally put together what I thought could become a dynasty, ” he said. “It was, I mean, four trips to the Finals in a row, two world championships. It was an incredible run. ” Riley added that he “saw something I thought could last 8-10 years, ” but accepted that “the business of the NBA is the business of the NBA, ” noting players can go elsewhere; LeBron left in 2014 after four seasons with the Heat, exercised an early termination option and returned to the Cleveland Cavaliers. By 2016, LeBron secured his third NBA championship by leading Cleveland to its only NBA title in team history and the city’s first professional title since 1964. Riley said he wished he had LeBron “for another 6-8 years. ”
Context on that Big Three era: Miami’s run from 2010-14 produced a. 718 win percentage that trailed only the San Antonio Spurs’. 740 and made Miami the third different franchise to make four consecutive NBA Finals appearances, joining Bill Russell’s Celtics and Larry Bird’s Celtics and Riley’s own “Showtime” Lakers. Riley is a winner of nine NBA titles across stints as a player, assistant coach, head coach and executive. Riley coached the Lakers from 1981 to 1990 and won championships in 1982, 1985, 1987 and 1988, the last coming after he famously guaranteed a repeat title at the 1987 championship parade. He is the eighth Laker with a statue on Star Plaza, joining Elgin Baylor, Kobe Bryant, Chick Hearn, Shaquille O'Neal, Jerry West, Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
“I don't know how I got here, but I got here and now there's a statue out there, ” Riley said, expressing gratitude to be honored and to stand with “those who are the giants that I jumped up on their shoulders and they carried me. ”
Closing: The statue that memorializes Riley’s sideline signal, fashion and words now stands outside Crypto. com Arena and features the family inscription he credited to his father, marking another formal recognition of a career that has spanned playing, coaching and executive success.
