Heat's Pat Riley has 'mind blowing' reaction after Lakers statue announcement

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Despite Heat president Pat Riley already celebrating his signature on the court of the Kaseya Center, it will not be the only instance of a team commemorating his career this season. It was announced that the Los Angeles Lakers would honor the Heat executive with his very own statue as he released a statement Wednesday on his reaction to the news.

One of the greatest coaches of all time — The Lakers are proud to announce Pat Riley’s legacy will be cemented, and his statue will find a home on Star Plaza pic.twitter.com/bHkjarx8CV

— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) November 18, 2024

Riley is no doubt iconic to the Lakers franchise as he was one of the faces of the Showtime era that was a part of four championships filled with players such as Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. In a statement released via Miami’s X, formerly Twitter, account, he would call it “mind blowing.”

"One of my first messages to the team was 'The journey of a thousand miles starts with our first step. Where it takes you, is up to us.' And it took us to five championships in the 80's with the Showtime Lakers,” Riley wrote. “It was a hell of a journey and the fact that it's ending up with the arrival of a statue is mind blowing to me. I'd like to thank Jeanie and the entire Buss family for this honor."

Heat’s Erik Spoelstra reacts to the news regarding a Pat Riley statue

Another person who would share his enthusiasm was Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra, who spoke about the news with Riley before Monday’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers. He would call it “incredible” and further talk about how iconic Riley’s stint with the Lakers was and how it shaped the NBA at the time from 1981 to 1990.

“It is just incredible, and none of us heard anything about it, so I’m guessing he probably heard about it before,” Spoelstra said. “But rightly so, those Showtime Lakers are iconic. The image of a professional basketball coach, he just totally changed it in the 80s, and then made it something that people, you know, thought was like, ‘hey, that’d be really cool to be able to do something like that.’ I think it’s a saying that he used to say that you don’t want to be just the best at what you do, you want to be the only one that does what you do. And that’s Pat to a tee, but I’m really glad to hear that the Lakers are doing this. It’s going to be a pretty special moment.”

"It's incredible, and none of us heard anything about it… Rightly so, those showtime Lakers are iconic… The image of a professional basketball coach, he totally changed it in the 80s.”

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra on Pat Riley getting a statue from the Lakers

(via… pic.twitter.com/FtwEHgmUV9

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) November 18, 2024

Lakers’ Jeanie Buss releases statement on team making a Pat Riley statue

It would not be the first time this year that someone associated with the Heat got a statue like Dwyane Wade did earlier in the season, which resulted in major online discourse. Lakers executive Jeanie Buss, her father being Jerry Buss, who owned the Lakers during the Showtime era, would release her statement when the announcement dropped and called him an “icon.”

"Pat is a Lakers icon," said Jeanie Buss. "His professionalism, commitment to his craft, and game preparation paved the way for the coaching we see across the league today. My dad recognized Pat’s obsession and ability to take talented players and coalesce them into a championship team. 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."

In terms of when it will be finished, Los Angeles’ statement Monday said that it will be “set for completion in 2026” and that “the Lakers will announce the official unveiling date at a later time.” At any rate, Riley will focus on the betterment of the Heat as they are currently 6-7, which puts them sixth in the Eastern Conference.

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