Lakers to honor former HC Pat Riley with a statue

Monday, the Lakers announced that they'd commissioned a statue of Pat Riley, the coach of their "Showtime" teams of the '80s, to go in Star Plaza outside their arena. 

Riley will join Lakers legends Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal, Jerry West and Elgin Baylor in the row of statues, along with his own former players Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. There's also a statue of Chick Hearn, the longtime Lakers announcer, and briefly, Riley's broadcast partner.

Riley had an incredibly successful run with the Lakers, going 533-194 (.733) in his nine seasons as head coach, and 104-47 (.685) in the playoffs. He won NBA titles in 1982, 1985, 1987 and 1988, and lost in the Finals in 1983, 1984 and 1989. 

That's seven Western Conference championships in nine years, and in the years they didn't make the Finals, the team won 62 and 63 games.

Not only did Riley lead one of the greatest and most exciting teams in NBA history, he also won a championship ring as a Lakers player in 1972, and as Paul Westhead's assistant coach in 1980. He was also a style icon, wearing Armani suits and his signature slicked-back hairstyle.

The Hall of Famer also earned three more rings with the Miami Heat, first as head coach in 2006 and then as team president in 2012 and 2013.

Riley resigned after the 1989-90 season, after the team lost in the second round. While there were rumors Riley had clashed with players and executive Jerry West in the final season, there seemed to be little bitterness between Riley and his old team. He went on to work for NBC for a year, before moving on to coach the New York Knicks, then as coach and minority owner with the Heat.

While the Philadelphia 76ers have multiple statues at their practice facility in Camden, New Jersey, there's fewer than 20 NBA players who have statues outside of team arenas. Five of those are Los Angeles Lakers, while Minneapolis Laker George Mikan has a statue at the Target Center in Minnesota. 

Riley is the only coach to receive such an honor, though there's a statue of Boston Celtics coach Red Auerbach and his cigar at the Faneuil Hall Marketplace, just a mile from the Celtics' home arena.

The most recent arena statue to be unveiled was one of Riley's players from Miami, Dwyane Wade, whose likeness was unveiled to much derision last month.

Riley may not be the only coach who ends up with a statue outside the Lakers arena. Phil Jackson won five titles as head coach of the Lakers, one more than Riley, going 610-292 (.676). The complicating factor may be that Jackson had a long romantic relationship with Lakers owner Jeanie Buss, who is now married to comedian Jay Mohr.

Still, don't be surprised if Jackson gets his own statue next to Riley, perhaps in his special padded chair. He's earned the monument, and the Lakers clearly love making statues.