Pat Riley had the best wardrobe in sports history

In 2025 it’s the guys making dribbles and jump shoots on basketball courts that are commanding all the attention in the NBA. Alongside their slam dunks, you’ve got LeBron James garnering mass media attention for the Lakers in big outfit after even bigger outfit (Louis Vuitton and Amiri, typically) and Jaylen Brown in Gucci and Prada, throwing hoops for the Boston Celtics. Respectfully, the guys breaking records are almost as known for their tunnel fits as they are their moves on the court.

But back in the 1980s, it was Pat Riley who was ruling the show. With his revered sense of calm on the side of the court, Riley became one of the best coaches in the world, with a career spanning 27 legendary years, over which he won five NBA Finals and three NBA Coach of the Year honours. Riley was stealing the limelight from those guys (Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar et al) he commanded on the court, however, as much because of the things he wore, as his attitude and skills. The so-called “Godfather of the NBA" became known, much like the guys who are ruling the NBA today, for his sharp sense of style, which the NBA had never really seen before.

Riley, who was around 36 years old when he became the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers in 1981, had a penchant for custom-tailored dress shirts from Savile Row, while he wore the Seventies and Eighties-defining suits by Giorgio Armani. If Richard Gere of American Gigolo fame became the poster guy for Armani in the film industry and beyond, it was Riley who was the rep for the Italian brand in the sports world.

His suit jackets, which he wore in neutral hues of ecru, bone, navy and stone, were power-shouldered and cut longer. The trousers were high-waisted, sitting an inch above his hip bone, and featured a slight kick flare akin to the sort of trousers you’d see on Serge Gainsbourg or Yves Saint Laurent, two of the most stylish Frenchmen of the 20th Century. Riley's ties - striped, patterned, buttery yellow and pink, and rarely ever plain - were as strong, and gave more flavour and character to his tailoring. His belt game, too, was unrivalled and he mixed up Italianised spezzato suits with leather Western styles with metal buckles and clasps and woven belts.

“I was trying to create, not a brand, but an image of what a coach should look like on the sidelines. And I did," the coach said (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ig4U6TYs8Q&t=790s) during an appearance on LeBatardShow. “I think all coaches should conduct themselves, if you are running the most important part of building. A multi-billion dollar organisation, their frontman has to not only present themselves in a manner that people respect, but in press conferences and everything.” In short, Riley looked to the CEOs and finance bros of Wall Street for his own courtside style.

And it’s a style that has transcended the bookends of the decades in which he stood on the sidelines. Today it’s all too clear that Pat Riley is - if consciously or not - inspiring the biggest names in menswear. Anthony Vaccarello's Spring/Summer ‘25 menswear collection for Saint Laurent, which was presented via a glossy lookbook, comprised the broad-shouldered blazers in neutral tones and striped, neck-tied shirts that Riley made his uniform. There were pink blazers paired with creamy blazers. Meanwhile, Husbands Paris, the culty IYKYK brand dressing French business owners and tres chic fashion editors, has made padded shoulders and high-waisted and front-pleated bootcut slacks its signature look. Celine, whilst headed up by former creative director Hedi Slimane, curated an image based on slightly flared trousers and oversized blazers, Gainsbourg-style.

Could Pat Riley have the best, least not the most enduring, style in sports history? It would be hard to find a guy with a wardrobe as good as his.

Now read an interview with sportsman Charles Leclerc

Become a Gentleman’s Journal member. Find out more here.