The Los Angeles Lakers announced that legendary head coach Pat Riley will be receiving a statue in Star Plaza outside of Crypto.com Arena. Riley is one of the greatest coaches in NBA history and was a mastermind behind the ‘Showtime’ era Lakers led by Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Those Lakers won five NBA Championships in the 1980s with Riley being an assistant coach on the first championship team and the head coach on the other four. The franchise would make eight NBA Finals appearances total in that decade with Riley becoming an icon during that time with his innovative coaching, not to mention his style off the court, regularly wearing Armani suits on the bench.