HEAT CHECK: NBA Champion Fire’s Back at Pat Riley’s Jimmy Butler Comments

In his decorated career, Pat Riley has significantly contributed to the success of many franchises, especially the Miami Heat.

For better or for worse, Riley has continuously operated in his ways and expected everyone to follow his ways. Many Heat players found this out the hard way, as their disagreements with Riley’s style and expectations led to punishments within the team or their exit from the team.

Jimmy Butler is the latest star player to end his partnership with the Heat, but not before plenty of drama has piled on to the difficult transition. Before the suspensions, much of their disagreements happened because of Butler’s missed games throughout his tenure, leading to consecutive berths in the Play-In Tournament.

On the Run It Back show on Fanduel TV, Antoine Walker explained there were signs the Heat would move away from Butler before the drama insisted.

“I love Pat,” Walker said. “I mean, he’s a disciplinarian. He likes to do things his way. And one thing about Pat, if you look at the trend and you guys follow, when he’s kinda done with you, he does it publicly. I mean, this is even back dating to D-Wade, Shaq, Jimmy, and myself. I mean, it never stays in-house, and he just makes the move, and he kinda does it publicly. I didn’t like the Jimmy situation because you shouldn’t have to start fining guys for their money and taking their money away like that. I think if you wanna part ways and move him, there’s ways you can do that.”

NBA INSIDER REVEALS JIMMY BUTLER NO LONGER FELT “WANTED” BY MIAMI HEAT

Nobody could ever take away the amount of success Jimmy Butler had with the Miami Heat for six seasons.

Butler had the best basketball stretch of his career by leading the Heat to a number one seed in the Eastern Conference, two Conference Finals appearances, and three Finals appearances.

However, the end of their partnership didn’t go the way either side wanted. Above everything else, Butler has always valued a team fully supporting him and his ability to lead teams to success as one of their top options. Each time a team seemed prepared to move away from him, a new destination was always near. This was shown when Butler eliminated the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2022 playoffs and relayed his famous “Tobias Harris over me?” quote.

It also became apparent at the end of his tenure with the Heat, as they seemed prepared to build around their younger All-Stars, Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo. Marc Spears from Andscape elaborated on Butler’s thoughts on the Heat planning their future without him before his trade to the Golden State Warriors.

“Butler wanted to be traded because he felt the Heat were moving in a direction without him in mind, and he wanted to be more valued, sources said,” Spears explained. “The four-time NBA All-Star ended up asking for a trade from the Heat in his seventh season with the franchise.”

Butler explained being wanted is the most significant factor he always looks for in a team he plays for, and the Warriors displayed this trait.

“I saw a group that wanted me to be a part of it,” Butler said. “That’s all you ever wanted to be is wanted in this life, not just in this league. In anything, you want to be wanted. Needed is like a necessity. Wanted is like somebody’s choosing to bring you aboard this. I think that’s the ultimate sign of respect.”

MIAMI HEAT’S KEVIN LOVE COMPARES SEASON TO LEBRON JAMES LEAVING CLEVELAND CAVALIERS

One of the most challenging aspects of running a franchise is moving on after losing a player who’s been the team’s main strength for several years.

The Miami Heat have been trying to overcome this issue since they traded Jimmy Butler to the Golden State Warriors. Although they received several key players at the trade deadline, such as Andrew Wiggins, Davion Mitchell, and Kyle Anderson, they haven’t adjusted to playing without an actual number one option like Butler.

The Heat are 5-11 since the Butler trade. One of the main contributors to the struggles has been the inability to close out games and play well in second halves. Even without a fully committed Butler, he was still one of their best players in clutch games for the Heat with a positive net rating of 2.2. The Heat’s other top options, Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro, have negative ratings in these situations. This has led to the Heat leading the league with nine games where they have blown leads of at least 15 points.

Kevin Love shared his thoughts about how the Heat’s struggles to finish games are similar to one of the seasons LeBron James left the Cleveland Cavaliers. Without their best player, the Cavaliers also struggled to close out games.

“I feel like maybe after LeBron James left, not the first year,” Love said. “It was like the second or third year, we had a number of second halves when we just couldn’t get over the hump.”