The LA Lakers honored Pat Riley, the architect of the “Showtime Lakers” in the ‘80s, with a statue outside Crypto.com Arena on Sunday. Riley, valued at $120 million by Celebrity Net Worth in 2026, led the Lakers to four championships as a head coach. He was also an assistant coach in 1980 when the team ruled the NBA.
Riley becomes the first coach to reserve such recognition by the Lakers. The Hall of Famer’s 8-foot bronze representation stands between the statues of franchise icons Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Riley became a star coach after nine years as a role player in the NBA. As an assistant coach with the Lakers in 1980, he helped the team to the championship. Two years later, the coach who replaced Paul Westhead at the helm guided the team to another title.
With Pat Riley running his uptempo style that was anchored on Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the Lakers went to the NBA Finals seven times in Riley’s nine seasons. He appeared in commercials like Reebok and Rolaids, becoming as big a star as Johnson and Jabbar.
Riley left LA in the summer of 1992 to join the New York Knicks, where he had another successful run. New York went to the Eastern Conference finals in Riley’s first season with the Knicks. The following year, he would guide the team to the NBA Finals, where they lost to the Houston Rockets. After losing in the 1995 conference semis, Riley took his talents to South Beach.
Pat Riley led the Miami Heat to the 2006 championship, the franchise’s first. He has been the team president since 2003. Riley was the top man in the front office when the Heat won the championship in 2012 and 2013.
Lakers Lost on Pat Riley Day
The LA Lakers hosted their rivals, the Boston Celtics, on Pat Riley’s special day. At halftime, Riley was again honored by current and former NBA players. Unfortunately, the Celtics refused to cooperate.
With Riley watching, the Cs, even without Jayson Tatum, dominated the Lakers again. Jaylen Brown, Payton Pritchard and Nikola Vucevic carried the visitors to a 111-89 win. The Lakers were so bad that Skip Bayless had to let them know:
“On Pat Riley Day, with Magic and Kareem in the house, the Lakers were an all-time embarrassment.”
Riley had his moment before the game and at halftime, but as the Celtics have done so many times in the past, they ruined Riley’s day.
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