Sunday was a monumental day for the Los Angeles Lakers. The storied franchise honored arguably the greatest coach in the team’s history, Pat Riley. The head coach of the ‘Showtime’ era received a statue at Star Plaza. The best way the current-day roster could show its appreciation was to win against the Boston Celtics. Unfortunately, they were extremely far from achieving such an outcome.
Advertisement
Although Riley has been with the Miami Heat for just over 30 years, the Lakers have always had a soft spot in his heart. Before he served as the team’s head coach, he was a player. Nonetheless, his impact within the organization is mighty high.
It makes sense why the organization wanted to honor him with a statue. They chose the game against longtime rivals, the Boston Celtics, as the perfect opportunity to celebrate Riley. The occasion led to a massive reunion with some of the franchise’s biggest stars.
Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul- Jabbar, Jamaal Wilkes, James Worthy, A.C. Green, Kurt Rambis and Byron Scott showed up for Riley. It was a great display of appreciation for one of basketball’s greatest figures.
Unfortunately, the Lakers weren’t able to showcase the same high-level basketball the team played when Riley was the head coach. Boston absolutely thrashed Los Angeles by a score of 111-89. It certainly wasn’t the outcome the Lakers wanted.
Considering the circumstances, this loss isn’t any ordinary loss. NBA analyst Skip Bayless didn’t like what he saw from the Lakers, which led to heaps of criticism for their performance.
“I just witnessed one of the most shameful performances in Los Angeles Lakers history,” Bayless said on The Skip Bayless Show.
Last night was one of the most shameful performances in Los Angeles Lakers history pic.twitter.com/gz2adlEwZT
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) February 23, 2026
The Lakers should’ve come out and played with an extreme sense of pride to represent Riley. Instead, Bayless suggests that it was the opposing team that brought the necessary competitive fire.
“Celtics from the jump just played harder than the Lakers. They were more inspired by the Pat Riley Day ceremony than the home team Lakers were,” Bayless said.
Defense has been one of the biggest issues for the Lakers this season, but it was extremely apparent on Sunday night. Jaylen Brown had another great performance finishing with 32 points, but it was another Celtics player who stole the show.
The Lakers had no answer for Celtics guard Payton Pritchard. The 6-foot-1 guard tantalized on the big stage, putting up 30 points off the bench. He single-handedly highlighted all of the chinks in Lakers’ armor. Frankly, the holes are enough for Bayless to lose any faith he had left in this team.
“They’re just overrated,” Bayless proclaimed. “They’re star-heavy with Luka and LeBron, but Luka is the most inefficient, hard-to-watch superstar I can even remember. He complains about every single play.”
Doncic’s constant complaining throughout games has been a topic of conversation the entirety of the season. His antics were egregious against the Celtics. That wasn’t a performance that would’ve made Riley or any of the other Lakers legends proud.
Unfortunately, the Lakers won’t be able to get a redo for their effort on Sunday night. However, what they can do is change their effort level going forward and look to change for the better. Hopefully, they can make the change or else their postseason may be short for the third consecutive season.
