James Worthy Describes Playing For Pat Riley During `Showtime Lakers' Era

James Worthy says it wasn't easy playing for Pat Riley during his time with the Los Angeles Lakers

Pat Riley is arguably one of the best and most-respected coaches in NBA history. 

He won five championships in his career, capturing four titles with the Los Angeles Lakers and one for the Miami Heat. Over the years, there were several stories told about how difficult it was to play for him because of the high demand. 

Hall of Famer James Worthy, who played the Lakers during the Showtime Era, recently spoke about the wrath of Riley. He told the story on an appearance on the Byron Scott podcast. Scott also played for the Lakers. 

“There was a story that went around, and he comes in at halftime one time and, like, f**k it! Byron Scott," Worthy said. "Worthy! You're worthless! I don't know what they [keep] you around. Magic! I don't know [but] there's nothing mystical about you!”

Worthy did say Riley knew how to pick his battles. He rarely went after Lakers center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. 

Worthy continued, “And he looked at Kareem and said, ‘Kareem, what would you like to do?’ I mean, he just knew who to push and who not to push, and he knew when you needed it.”'

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