The Lakers will unveil a new statue of another team legend this season
Early this past season, the Lakers announced that former coach Pat Riley would be getting a statue. Now, the date that his statue will be unveiled has been set.
Riley's statue will be revealed to the public on Feb. 22, which is when the Boston Celtics make their annual trip out West to face the Lakers. That is fitting, given that Riley's defining moments as the team's coach were those battles against the Celtics in the NBA Finals.
Riley became the Lakers' head coach early in the 1981-82 season after serving two years as an assistant coach and five and a half seasons as a bench player with them in the 1970s. They blew the 1984 NBA championship against the Celtics, but with Riley emphasizing defense, rebounding, physicality and overall toughness, the Lakers beat the Celtics in the finals for the first time in eight attempts in 1985, then got another ring against the men in green in 1987.
Overall, Riley won four world titles in nine seasons as the Lakers' head coach. He guaranteed they would repeat as champions following their victory over Boston in 1987, and they delivered, making them the first NBA team to win back-to-back championships in 19 years.
This season's Lakers-Celtics matchups won't have that much intrigue since star forward Jayson Tatum will miss the entire year due to a torn Achilles. But older fans who were around for the Showtime era will certainly be looking forward to Feb. 22.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: The Lakers will unveil a new statue of another team legend this season
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
11 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Colby Thomas' three-run homer (2)
Colby Thomas hits a three-run homer to left-center field to give the Athletics a 4-1 lead in the bottom of the 3rd inning
Yahoo
11 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Chiefs vs. Seahawks: QB Gardner Minshew finds veteran TE Robert Tonyan for TD in Seattle
The Kansas City Chiefs are in the midst of a tight game against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 2 of the 2025 NFL preseason. After a slow start that saw the Chiefs down 14-0 in the first quarter of Friday's tilt, Kansas City's offense began to claw its way back as the game approached halftime. Trailing with only ten minutes left in the half, quarterback Gardner Minshew manufactured a near-perfect drive that ended in a touchdown pass to veteran tight end Robert Tonyan in the red zone. Take a look at the connection, which was posted to Twitter by the Chiefs' official account: Despite a close game, Kansas City's defense has staggered against a much-improved Seattle team and will need to rely on its experience to stop quarterback Sam Darnold and company. Stay tuned to see if the reigning AFC champions can recover from last week's loss and head back to western Missouri with a win. This article originally appeared on Chiefs Wire: Chiefs vs. Seahawks: Gardner Minshew finds Robert Tonyan for first TD
Yahoo
11 minutes ago
- Yahoo
A special win: How the Brewers tied their franchise record with 13 straight victories
CINCINNATI (AP) — The Milwaukee Brewers just keep streaking, and now they've matched the franchise record for consecutive wins at 13. The Brewers rallied from seven runs down through two innings Friday night by scoring nine unanswered runs in thumping the Cincinnati Reds 10-8. Milwaukee opened the 1987 season winning the first 13. 'It's just a special win,' said Christian Yelich, who had two homers among four hits driving in five runs. This latest streak in a season in which the Brewers just don't lose very often or bash their way back to one big win after another has them atop all of Major League Baseball with a 77-44 record. That's six better than Toronto, and Milwaukee has opened up a nine-game lead inside the NL Central over Chicago. That success has fed their confidence. Yelich told manager Pat Murphy they were going to win even when trailing 8-1 after two innings. He played with a bat honoring Bob Uecker, the Brewers' former announcer who died in January at the age of 90, down to his signature home run call. Yelich said the Brewers have been in this situation before and always find a way to make it close. 'Just with the way that our team is I knew we weren't going to get our doors blown off,' Yelich said. "You know we're going to find a way to get our way back into that thing. We just got a roomful of fighters and guys who just don't care what the scoreboard says or anything like that.' Uecker, nicknamed Mr. Baseball, broadcast Milwaukee games for over half a century. Murphy said they just have to convince themselves that Uecker is still with them after what he meant to the organization. 'Somehow it seems like he's watching over us,' Murphy said. "I said he's not going to miss a game. Well, he was definitely here tonight. Yelly proved it. Special." Yelich nearly put his bat away after an opening home run only to keep swinging it the rest of the game. He was supposed to use the bat honoring Uecker last year, and Uecker loved the bat when he saw it. Yelich called this kind of a full-circle moment. 'If you know Ueck, you know like crazy things like that are going to happen when he's involved,' Yelich said. 'It just adds to like how special tonight was.' ___ AP MLB:
