LOS ANGELES – On the day his likeness was made permanent outside the Lakers’ home arena, Pat Riley said he wished NBA coaches would dress for the part the same way he did.
“What a coach should wear, I wish it went back to coat and ties,” Riley said. “I think an audience wants to see somebody on the sidelines who’s, who looks like a leader, dresses like a leader, acts like a leader.”
Riley became the eighth member of the Lakers organization to earn a statue outside the arena in Star Plaza, joining fellow Naismith Basketball Hall of Famers Jerry West, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kobe Bryant, Elgin Baylor, Shaquille O’Neal and broadcaster Chick Hearn. Riley’s statue was intentionally placed between Johnson and Abdul-Jabbar.
Riley, currently the president of the Miami Heat, won four championships with the Lakers. A banner from each helped hide the statue until it was finally unveiled, depicting Riley in an Armani suit with a fist in the air, a signal for the team to pass to Abdul-Jabbar for a skyhook.
“It’s very simple … Some people like to wear Levi jeans and that’s it, you know, t-shirts and and whatever it is. But I met Mr. Armani in 1978 in in Milan. And he started to make some things for me at that time,” Riley said. “ … A lot of people are going back to vintage Armani, which are the 80’s and 90’s. I didn’t have to go buy any. I just went into my closet. I just pulled them out, recut ’em, you know, and they looked a little bit more contemporary.”
Riley’s fashion was one topic among Sunday’s speakers at the pregame ceremony. Lakers governor Jeanie Buss, actor Michael Douglas, Dwyane Wade, Abdul-Jabbar and Johnson all spoke, with Douglas saying Riley’s hair inspired Gordon Gekko’s slicked-back hairdo in “Wall Street.” Riley’s career, though, was more substance than style.
Pat Riley’s statue has been unveiled in Los Angeles!
9 years.
7 finals.
4 championships.Congrats to the Godfather of Showtime 👏 pic.twitter.com/QvwBuGuvGZ
— NBA (@NBA) February 22, 2026
In eight-plus full seasons in Los Angeles, Riley won 533 games, second-most in team history, leading all Lakers coaches with a 73.3 percent winning percentage. He won five championships as a coach, including one with Wade and O’Neal in Miami. But it was his time with the Showtime Lakers, many of whom attended Sunday’s ceremony, that built his legacy as an iconic sideline presence.
“This is where I ended up. I don’t know how I got here, but I got here, and now there’s a statue out there and (in Star Plaza), Riley said.
“And, and I, I’m so grateful. I really am. It’s beyond gratitude. I’m so grateful to be honored, you know, and to be with those, you know, who are the giants that I jumped up on their shoulders, and they carried me. They did it. And here I’m today.”