The Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics have one of the longest and most fierce rivalries in all of sports.
The rivalry is set to add another spark to its history when the Lakers unveil a statue of their former legendary head coach Pat Riley when the Celtics come to town next February.
The Lakers announced they will be unveiling the statue of the Hall of Famer on February 22, as Riley takes his rightful place among Laker greats Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, and Kobe Bryant outside of Crypto.com Arena.
And there’s no better game or opponent to do it against than the hated Celtics.
Riley coached the ‘Showtime’ Lakers from 1981 to 1990, helping guide the Purple and Gold franchise to four championships (1982, 1985, 1987, 1988).
Two of those championships, in 1985 and 1987, came against Larry Bird and the Celtics, both in highly contested six-game series.
Yes, Riley had the benefit of coaching Abdul-Jabbar, Johnson, and James Worthy, but he was the one who made it all work at the end of the day.
He helped put the NBA on the map before Michael Jordan’s arrival with the style of play that his ‘Showtime Era’ Lakers played with. It was nothing like the league had seen before.
In nine seasons at the helm, Riley posted an impressive 533-194 (.733) regular-season record. He won 102 playoff games and won at least 50 games every season while in the City of Angels.
Riley surpassed 60 victories in four straight years from 1985-1988.
He became a Lakers legend for his work in the 1980s, but it’s not to be forgotten that Riley played for the franchise from 1970-1975, winning the title in 1972.
He had accomplished everything there was to do as a Laker.
At the end of 2024, Lakers team governor Jeanie Buss announced the initial plans to build Riley a statue.
“Pat is a Lakers icon,” Buss said. “His professionalism, commitment to his craft, and game preparation paved the way for the coaching we see across the league today…
“The style of basketball Pat and the Lakers created in the ’80s is still the blueprint for the organization today: an entertaining and winning team.”
On February 22, 2026, Riley will be forever immortalized in shiny bronze.
And that may not be the only statue he receives. In fact, in all likelihood the Miami Heat will also build Riley a statue.
He was Miami’s head coach for 11 seasons, including when the franchise won its first NBA championship in 2006.
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He has been the team president of the organization since stepping down as head coach in 2008.
Since then, Riley has overseen two more championships and four more Finals appearances. Outside of the title in 2006, his biggest contribution to the 305 franchise was luring LeBron James to South Beach in the summer of 2010.
James would go on and win the aforementioned two titles, while Riley helped build a competitive roster around him.
Even at the ripe age of 80, Riley is still holding it down in Miami as he looks to build another contender.
There are not many better winners in sports than Riley. That’s why he is getting one statue next year, with another surely to be announced at a later time.
If you eventually need more than one finger to tell people how many statues you have, that’s when you know you’re on top.
And for Riley, he always was.