While there are eight bronze statues outside the Crypto.com Arena, Pat Riley became the first head coach to receive this honor. To celebrate the Godfather, his trusted soldiers of the Showtime Lakers flanked him. While the night ended in a loss, Magic Johnson still found solace with his other investment.

“@LAFC won our first game of the season in front of over 75K fans in LA Coliseum last night setting the second-highest attendance record in league history! We beat Inter Miami and star Lionel Messi 3-0 in an opening weekend thriller!”

It was the MLS opening weekend where Los Angeles FC won 3-0 over Lionel Messi-led Inter Miami. It was LAFC’s star Son Heung-min’s first full season with over 75,673 fans in attendance at the LA Memorial Coliseum. So, a great night that ended in a perfect win made Magic Johnson cheerful on X. Which was very different from his experience watching the Lakers.

The Lakers unveiled the statue prior to Sunday’s home game against the rival Boston Celtics. It fittingly stands between statues of Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, with whom Riley won four NBA championships as head coach of the “Showtime” Lakers. It was Johnson who started his speech to celebrate the Godfather.

“It’s really great to be here to honor one of the greatest coaches that’s ever lived,” said Johnson in front of the Lakers fans. “And also one of the best coaches there was in history. This man led us to four NBA championships. Took us to the NBA Finals eight times. But with the Los Angeles Lakers. He has six NBA championships because he won one as a player as well.”

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Magic Johnson was the “Showtime” Lakers royalty present for the unveiling alongside Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy, A.C. Green, Bob McAdoo, Kurt Rambis, Norm Nixon, and Byron Scott. Riley recapped his journey and spoke about the experience and his feelings about what the Purple and Gold franchise meant to him. He concluded with a potent message, “kick some Boston a–.” But the current Lakers stars failed to live up to the billing.

Magic Johnson’s former teammate berated the current team

The performance against the Celtics was one of the displays that the fanbase and the players would like to forget at the earliest. Mind you, the Lakers had a relatively healthy roster, in comparison to the previous few weeks, as their Big 3 all featured against Boston. But the presence of Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, and LeBron James could not stop the bleeding.

One of the Showtime Lakers stars was not on the court alongside his teammate, since he was busy with a broadcasting commitment. However, James Worthy sent a message that every member of the Lakers nation was thinking.

“You show no, really, to me, no respect for the uniform… They’ve got to decide who they want to be because right now, I’m not sure. I don’t know if they understand the history, not these, not these guys,” Worthy said. “I don’t know if they get it. This is the Boston Celtics and the Lakers at home; they got to figure it out.”

After tonight’s loss, the Lakers are 16-11 at home. Only three of their total 22 losses have been by fewer than 10 points, which also means they get outplayed more often than a top team should. In fact, the Big 3 has an 8-4 record, with the four losses coming against the four best teams they’ve played and all by double digits. The cheers and applause for Pat Riley’s honor night quickly turned into boos for the current Lakers team.