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The Lakers just announced a statue for Pat Riley, the architect of the generational “Showtime Lakers” dynasty that won five championships in the 1980s under Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Likewise, their fast-paced and flamboyant style along with the Lakers and Magic's rivalry with the Celtics and Larry Bird rescued the NBA from the ratings basement of the 1970s, laying the foundation for the global stardom of Michael Jordan. Meanwhile, Riley getting a statue might also mean that the Purple and Gold could build another statue for another of their great coaches: Phil Jackson.
“The Lakers' recent announcement that they have begun work on a statue for Pat Riley to be erected outside Crypto.com Arena is believed to be a prelude to an eventual announcement about a statue for Phil Jackson,” per a report from Marc Stein for The Stein Line.
Lakers honoring their great coaches
Both Phil Jackson and Pat Riley have led LA to five titles each, in two separate decades–Riley in the 80s and Jackson in the 2000s. However, Jackson has won the most championships in NBA history, with 11, thanks to winning six rings with MJ and the Chicago Bulls in the 1990s.
Then, Jackson became the final piece to fulfill the tremendous potential of the Shaq and Kobe pairing, guiding the duo to three straight championships from 2000 to 2002.
After Shaq and Kobe broke up, the old coach retired, but then returned to coach Kobe again in 2005. The process was slower this time, which involved a bitter Finals loss to the Celtics in 2008, but the Lakers eventually closed the decade just as they had opened it, with back-to-back titles in 2009 and 2010.
Moreover, during Jackson's second tenure, Kobe finally overcame the narrative of Shaq carrying him to championships, as he had won five rings in all, one more than Shaq, who was on his last legs by 2010 anyway.
Winning cultures
Anyway, Riley is the first to a statue, and new Lakers coach JJ Redick made a comment on his team's statue announcement for the current President of the Miami Heat.
Interestingly, Redick is a rookie coach, like Riley when he became Lakers head coach, though time will tell if he wins a championship in his first season like Riles did.
“Deserved,” Redick said, via ESPN. “He's a legend in the game of basketball. And obviously did a lot for this franchise… So I'm very happy for him. Well deserved.”
After winning five titles with the Lakers, Riley coached the 1990s Knicks to deep playoff runs only to run into the juggernaut that was the Chicago Bulls.
However, he won another championship as a coach with the Heat in 2006, with Shaq and Dwyane Wade, and then back-to-back titles as team president in 2012-2013, with the Big Three of LeBron James, Wade, and Chris Bosh.
