Pat Riley just publicly shamed Jimmy Butler during a time where NBA coaches and executives are hellbent on protecting their stars.
The Miami Heat lost their first-round series to the Boston Celtics in five games and it wasn’t even that close, with Boston beating Miami by an average of 22 points in their four wins. Butler, however, believes Miami would have sent Boston and the New York Knicks home during these NBA Playoffs if he were healthy. And those are comments Riley clearly was not amused by.
Pat Riley on Jimmy Butler’s comments that the Heat would’ve won over Boston if he were healthy… “you should keep your mouth shut” pic.twitter.com/K1K3RVo0lt
— WPLG Local 10 Sports (@Local10Sports) May 6, 2024
“For him to say that, I thought, ‘Is that Jimmy trolling, or is that Jimmy serious?'” Riley asked during his end of season press conference. “If you’re not on the court, playing against Boston, or you’re not on the court playing against the New York Knicks, you should keep your mouth shut in your criticism of those teams.”
Butler missed Miami’s entire first round series against Boston after suffering an MCL injury during their play-in loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. Miami clinched their first-round meeting with Boston after beating the Chicago Bulls without Butler in their second play-in game.
The Heat were good enough to beat Chicago without Butler. But with him, Butler thinks Miami would have been good enough to beat Boston or New York.
“If I was playing, Boston would be at home, New York would damn sure would f*cking be at home,” Butler told Rock the Bells in a social media video that went viral over the weekend. “Josh Hart? Come on man. I love [Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau]. Thibs, I love you, baby, but I want to beat you to a pulp.”
Last week, during Game 3 of Miami’s series with the Celtics, Butler also guaranteed a win for the Heat to TNT’s Chris Haynes.
“I think we believe,” Butler told Haynes. “It’s everybody else that don’t. If I gotta hear one more praise about Boston on national TV when we win a game, I’m tired of hearing that man. It’s 1-1. We gonna go up 2-1. See ya later, peace!”
Riley, a throwback, probably disliked that comment just as much, if not more than Butler claiming Miami would have beaten Boston and the Knicks if he was healthy. At least the vow that he could have helped Miami to a series win came after the fact.
But Butler’s guarantee to TNT came during the game, a game that he was not playing in. Which brings us to the “keep you mouth shut” retort from Riley, a throwback in every sense. There probably isn’t another NBA coach or executive willing to publicly call out one of their best players in that manner.
During the press conference, Riley also stated he has no plans to trade Butler this offseason, although signing their 34-year-old forward to a contract extension was no guarantee.
“That’s a big decision on our part,” Riley said of a potential contract extension for Butler. “To commit those kinds of resources, unless you’re somebody who’s going to be there every time.”
It was another public call out that other coaches and executives are unlikely to make about their stars during a press conference. Butler was not there every time, missing 22 regular season games in addition to being absent from Miami’s play-in against Chicago and their first-round playoff series with Boston.
To further separate himself from Riley’s desire to give those resources to “somebody who’s going to be there every time,” Butler has started more than 67 games just once in his NBA career.
[WPLG]
