Pat Riley reflects on Showtime and its Heat impact as statue unveiled in Los Angeles

Ira Winderman, South Florida Sun Sentinel on Feb 22, 2026

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For Pat Riley, it was Showtime again on Sunday in Los Angeles. This time his own showtime, with his statue unveiled in front of Lakers’ Crypto.com Arena.

On an afternoon of celebrity that included actor Michael Douglas and singer Michael McDonald among those in attendance, Riley not only had those who were part of his Lakers’ 1980s championship coaching tenure in attendance, but also several from his Miami Heat era, including Heat championship guard Dwyane Wade and Heat owner Micky Arison.

Riley intertwined several elements of his Hall of Fame coaching career into his speech, at one point thanking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, but then also referencing how the lessons learned from his coaching tenure helped in guiding others, including Wade.

“To Dwyane Wade, not of the Lakers, but I put the DNA of the Lakers in him,” Riley said in his comments. “You know, it just sort of comes with the program. And he came in as a rookie. He was raw. He was great. He was gifted. He was talented. He was cocky. He was true of himself. And I never saw a young man work harder than Dwyane Wade to become one of the greatest players ever.”

Riley also spoke of how the trappings of that coaching start near Hollywood impacted who he has become and what he has become decades later.

“We’ve been fast friends for a long time,” he said of Douglas. “When he did invite me and (wife) Chris to come to Monaco and then also to Nice when he was shooting that movie, he had a rap party up in Venice and Kathleen Turner happened to be the actress in that movie. And he was playing along with Danny DeVito in that movie. And so during the rap party, I went over and I sat down in front of Danny DeVito and Mike, just to chat and have some fun.”

And of McDonald, Riley said, “I regularly go back and I can recall each championship in the one moment, the one play, the one shot, the one anything. I just remember that. And usually when I listen to the music, you know, of that time, Michael McDonald is here today. He married Chris and I again. He renewed our vows in Hawaii.”

Riley also referenced the other statues in the arena plaza, including one of championship Lakers guard Magic Johnson.

“He was one of the very best of the best. I see him out here, Number 32, dribbling the ball and he’s pointing to somebody,” Riley said of Johnson’s statue. “And that was the communication he always had.”

Along the way, Riley referenced the impact on coaching in his career.

Riley guided the Lakers from 1981 to 1990 as part of his Hall of Fame coaching career, with championships in 1982, ’85, ’87 and ’88. The Lakers went 533-194 (.733) over Riley’s tenure, winning at least 50 games in each of his nine seasons and at least 60 games in five straight seasons.

“Coaching is to me,” he said, “is an interactive relationship whereby you get put in a place to get a result. I got put in a place without the experience. I was scared to death, but I was ready — didn’t think I was ready, but I knew I was ready. I just felt it.

“And so coaching being an interactive relationship whereby you get put in a place, you get hired, you grow into that place, and you need to get a result. And that result obviously is going to have to be winning, especially here in Los Angeles.”

And so he won in Los Angeles, won as coach of the New York Knicks, won as coach of the Heat, and in his ongoing role as Heat president.

The court at Kaseya Center now is named in his honor, with Arison giving the Lakers permission for the Riley statue, a sign that a Riley statue one day likely will be alongside the statue of Wade in front of the Heat’s arena.

Sunday, it was about the Lakers and championships and memories now bronzed.

Riley, 80, joins Lakers statues honoring former Lakers players Kobe Bryant, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Johnson, Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, Shaquille O’Neal and broadcaster Chick Hearn.

“That statue right there, the one they’re going to unveil today, that statue right there is loaded up with all of us who took that magical journey,” Riley said.

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