The Los Angeles Lakers honored legendary coach Pat Riley, mastermind of the team's 1980s "Showtime" era, with a statue outside Crypto.com Arena on Sunday.
Riley, a Hall of Fame coach now serving as the Miami Heat's team president, coached the Lakers from 1981 to 1990, taking them to the NBA Finals seven times and winning NBA titles in 1982, 1985, 1987 and 1988.
Now, he's immortalized outside the Lakers' arena in downtown Los Angeles, a bronze likeness of Riley -- wearing one of his favorite Armani suits and with one fist raised -- ranged alongside statues of Lakers greats Elgin Baylor, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal, Jerry West, Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, as well as beloved broadcaster Chick Hearn.
"I don't know how I got here, but I got here and now there's a statue out there," Riley, 80, said. "I'm so grateful to be honored and to be with those who are the giants that I jumped up on their shoulders and they carried me."
As head coach in Los Angeles, Riley won 533 games, his winning percentage of 73.3 leading all Lakers coaches.
He would go on to coach the Heat to an NBA title, but he cemented his NBA reputation as the architect of the "Showtime" Lakers -- whose high-octane offense revolutionized the NBA and made the franchise a cultural crossover phenomenon in Hollywood.
Actor Michael Douglas, a longtime Riley friend who was on hand on Sunday, says Riley's trademark swept-back hairstyle inspired the look for his 1987 Oscar-winning role as banker Gordon Gekko in "Wall Street."
Riley won a championship with the Lakers as a player in 1972 and went on to join Hearn as a Lakers broadcaster before becoming an assistant coach.
He was promoted to head coach by team owner Jerry Buss in 1981. Buss's daughter, current Lakers governor Jeanie Buss, called him "a guardian angel for this franchise" and "the epitome of an era."
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...RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM CST THIS EVENING FOR
THE SOUTHERN HALF OF CENTRAL ALABAMA...
The National Weather Service in Birmingham has issued a Red Flag
Warning, which is in effect until 6 PM CST this evening.
* WINDS...Northwest 10 to 15 mph with gusts up to 25 mph.
* RELATIVE HUMIDITY...As low as 22 percent.
* IMPACTS...The combination of a dry air mass and windy conditions
will result in critical fire weather conditions. Outdoor burning
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winds.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
A Red Flag Warning means that critical fire weather conditions
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strong winds...low relative humidity...and warm temperatures can
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&&
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