The 5 best head coaches in Los Angeles Lakers history
By Jason Reed
2. Pat Riley
Pat Riley is one of the most influential people in basketball history not just for his time as a head coach, but for his time as an executive for the Miami Heat. Riley is one of the most successful people in league history, so it might be surprising to see him rank second on any list.
The fact of the matter is that the Los Angeles Lakers have two of the greatest coaches of all time that would rank first on 90% of the other teams in the league. While either answer is acceptable, we rank Riley second all time.
Riley took over for Westhead and piloted the Showtime Lakers to four championships. While he was absolutely dealing with an immense amount of talent, it is a testament that he was able to keep all of the egos at bay and pilot a team that not only won four titles but was always in the mix as well.
It is hard to do that. Look at the Golden State Warriors. They started to collapse from within late in their run and the Showtime Lakers never really did that, they just got old. The Showtime Lakers are probably the third greatest dynasty in league history (behind Jordan’s Bulls and Russell’s Celtics) and a big reason why is Riley.
Riley proved that he was a great coach later in his career when he led the New York Knicks to the NBA Finals (but could not win). He is also the most influential person in Miami Heat history, helping put together not only the big three with LeBron but in drafting Dwyane Wade and bringing in Shaquille O’Neal for the 2006 championship.