The Los Angeles Lakers unveiled Pat Riley’s statue outside the Crypto.com Arena on Sunday. The legendary coach now stands between Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, two of his most reliable and beloved superstars from the Showtime Lakers era. Just a day after the Purple and Gold unveiled the statue, Johnson took to social media and posted a heartfelt message for his famously candid coach.

“What a great weekend watching my Hall of Fame Coach Pat Riley receive the recognition he deserves!” Johnson wrote on Instagram. “He is one of the greatest coaches of all time, winning six championships as a Laker. Coach Riley took us to 8 NBA Finals where we won four championships, he also won as an assistant coach and a player! It’s always a good time when I get together with my Showtime teammates.”

Aside from the heartwarming words, Johnson posted a series of pictures and videos. The carousel opened with a picture of Riley’s statue in his famous Armani suit and fist in the air, directing the Showtime Lakers stars to pass the ball to Abdul-Jabbar. A video on the subsequent slide featured Johnson recalling a moment when Riley told him he’d get subbed out first, despite scoring a triple-double that night. The legendary coach did it for one and only one purpose.

“He [Riley] would just give it to me because he wanted to set the tone for you guys,” Johnson said with a smirk, pointing to his Lakers teammates.

Another slide featured a video of the Lakers legends’ messages on the Jumbotron inside the Crypto.com Arena as they celebrated Riley’s illustrious career. Johnson also appeared to have thrown a party after the ceremony at his Magic Johnson Enterprises.

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Johnson was great from the start, winning the NBA championship and the NBA Finals MVP. However, it was Riley who truly shaped him into a leader. The five-time champion had entered the league primarily as a top passer. Riley’s arrival in 1981 shaped how he would later become the Showtime Lakers’ leading man.

Magic Johnson reveals the year Pat Riley transformed his role on the Lakers

Johnson’s legacy is defined by his flashy passes and unmatched court vision. Heart of the Showtime Lakers, he dominated the league in the ’80s while wearing the most infectious smile. For most of his college career, Johnson was primarily a playmaker. With a scorer like Abdul-Jabbar on the roster, he never had to handle scoring responsibility.

However, with Cap reaching the end of his career, Pat Riley knew he needed Johnson to change his role and take on the primary scoring duties if the Lakers wanted to win another championship.

“’87 gets me tingling, and I watch that probably the most, even though I watch all of ’em,” Johnson said on Bryan Scott’s Fast Break in March last year. “People don’t know this, but Pat Riley called me and said, ‘I wanna sit down and talk to you.’ I met him early before the season, and he sent all of these letters that we had to be in the top shape… After he got done discussing all that, he said, ‘Buck, I need you to score more.’ I said, ‘Did you ask Kareem? Did you talk to Kareem?’ He said, ‘Yeah, I talked to Cap. He good with it.’ Because if you want me to score more, I need to shoot more.”

And that was the year Johnson added Abdul-Jabbar’s legendary skyhook shot to his bag, or at least his own rendition of it. He dubbed it “my junior, junior, junior skyhook” in the locker room. Johnson had smaller guards guarding him because he didn’t play post-up. During the offseason, however, he sought to learn the most unguardable shot in NBA history from the most lethal scorer.

In the 1986-87 season, Johnson’s field goal attempts skyrocketed. He averaged a career-high in points and, for the second consecutive year, led the league in assists. In his first MVP season, he averaged 23.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, 12.2 assists, and 1.7 steals per game. Those few years were also crucial because every member, from Riley to the veterans to the rookies, wanted to beat the Boston Celtics at any cost.