Lakers reveal statue for legendary coach Pat Riley

[p]Riley, a Hall of Fame coach now serving as the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/miami-heat/CQ7AXnT5/"]Miami Heat[/a]'s team president, coached the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/los-angeles-lakers/ngegZ8bg/"]Lakers[/a] from 1981 to 1990, taking them to the NBA Finals seven times and winning NBA titles in 1982, 1985, 1987, and 1988.[/p][p]Now, he's immortalized outside the Lakers' arena in downtown Los Angeles, a bronze likeness of Riley - wearing one of his favorite Armani suits and with one fist raised - ranged alongside statues of Lakers greats Elgin Baylor, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bryant-kobe/KdSVPu56/"]Kobe Bryant[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/o-neal-shaquille/pbB7eCf6/"]Shaquille O'Neal[/a], Jerry West, Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, as well as beloved broadcaster Chick Hearn.[/p][p][b]"I don't know how I got here, but I got here and now there's a statue out there,"[/b] Riley, 80, said.[b] "I'm so grateful to be honored and to be with those who are the giants that I jumped up on their shoulders and they carried me."[/b][/p][embed guid="b9235a01-7f43-4fc0-9401-3e77fa1709a7" url="https://x.com/NBA/status/2025696038598697104?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]As head coach in Los Angeles, Riley won 533 games, his winning percentage of 73.3 leading all Lakers coaches.[/p][p]He would go on to coach the Heat to an NBA title, but he cemented his NBA reputation as the architect of the "Showtime" Lakers -- whose high-octane offense revolutionized the NBA and made the franchise a cultural crossover phenomenon in Hollywood.[/p][p]Actor Michael Douglas, a longtime Riley friend who was on hand on Sunday, says Riley's trademark swept-back hairstyle inspired the look for his 1987 Oscar-winning role as banker Gordon Gekko in "Wall Street."[/p][p]Riley won a championship with the Lakers as a player in 1972 and went on to join Hearn as a Lakers broadcaster before becoming an assistant coach.[/p][p]He was promoted to head coach by team owner Jerry Buss in 1981. Buss's daughter, current Lakers governor Jeanie Buss, called him[b] "a guardian angel for this franchise"[/b] and [b]"the epitome of an era."[/b][/p][embed guid="907578e4-5e11-400b-9e64-3555b2175876" url="https://x.com/NBA/status/2025738535739777198?s=20" social-type="twitter" /]