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Lakers Wants Pat Riley In Familiar Outfit For Statue Outside Crypto.com Arena

Shandel Richardson

Dec 25, 2010; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Miami Heat president Pat Riley before the game against the Los Angeles Lakers at the Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
Dec 25, 2010; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Miami Heat president Pat Riley before the game against the Los Angeles Lakers at the Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
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The Los Angeles Lakers are putting maximum effort into making sure their newly-announced plans of a statue resembles Pat Riley.

The statue will sit outside Crypto.com Arena. On Wednesday, Lakers owner Jeanie Buss said Riley has full control over the likeness, even the outfit.

"This is a great moment," Lakers owner Jeanie Buss said in a video posted on the team's social media pager. "We're very excited about it Pat. Doing a statue is a process. We want you very involved in the process, pick out the pose and what you kind of want to look like and what statement you want to make. But, come on, you've got to have one of those Armani suits."

Riley learned the news in the video that featured Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kurt Rambis and other Lakers greats.

"I'm just a kid from Schenectady, New York, and here I am going to have a statue with the Lakers," Riley said in the video.

Riley coached the Lakers to five championships in the 1980s while also winning one as a players in the 1970s.

“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,’” Riley said. “And it took us to five championships in the 80’s with the Showtime Lakers.

“It was a hell of a journey and the fact that it’s ending 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.”

Shandel Richardson is the publisher of Back In The Day Hoops On SI. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com

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Shandel Richardson
SHANDEL RICHARDSON

Shandel has covered the NBA since 2010, with previous stops at The Athletic and South Florida Sun-Sentinel.  He has covered six NBA Finals, one Super Bowl, the NCAA basketball tournament. He has also been a beat writer for the Miami Hurricanes and contributed on every major beat in South Florida since 2003, including the Miami Dolphins and Miami Marlins. He can also be read in the Sportsbook Review for gambling coverage from around the NBA. A native of Bloomington, Illinois, Shandel attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. He's also worked for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Kansas City Star.  TWITTER: @ShandelRich EMAIL: shandelrich@gmail.com