"He's tired of Jimmy Butler": 5x NBA All-Star believes Heat 'godfather' Pat Riley is miffed with his star player
Tim Hardaway Jr. weighed in on Miami Heat president Pat Riley and Miami Heat mainstay Jimmy Butler's relationship in recent times. The former 5x NBA All-Stat who also plied his trade for the Heat between 1996-01, felt the last straw for 'godfather' Riley was Butler's playful dig at Eastern conference rivals Boston Celtics and New York Knicks.
Speaking on the 'All the Smoke' podcast, Hardaway Sr. felt that Butler's lack of playing time and a championship drought has left Riley irked, and that results were expected of the forward.
"I was waiting on that! I knew something was gon’ happen. I told some people, I said, ‘Pat gon talk this year.’ He tired of a lot of things that’s going on with the team. He’s tired of Jimmy Butler."
He also further added:
“Directly, ‘Yo dude you haven’t played in a lot of games this year or last year… I need you to play in the playoffs. If you play more than 70 games, we wouldn’t be in play-in games, two years in a row. You need to take care of your body.'”
The Heat have made the NBA Finals twice since Butler linked up with the side. The 6x All-Star has been with the Heat for five seasons but has never had a 70-game season (the maximum was 64 in the 2022-23 edition) where they lost to the Denver Nuggets in the title finals.
Jimmy Butler was also a notable absentee for the Heat in their playoff run this past season with a sprained MCL. The side went down to the Boston Celtics in the first round. He ended his season averaging 20.8 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 1.3 steals, and 0.3 blocks in 60 games.
Pat Riley blasts Jimmy Butler after Celtics comments: "Keep your mouth shut"
Pat Riley wasn't amused with Jimmy Butler's take on the Celtics and Knicks and made his displeasure evident. He ripped into his star player during the end-of-season presser, saying:
"For him to say that, I thought, 'Is that Jimmy trolling, or is that Jimmy serious? If you're not on the court playing against Boston or on the court playing against the New York Knicks, you should keep your mouth shut."
On the season front, Butler will remain with the Miami Heat this season, and will reportedly not ink an extension with them or any other team ahead of his opt-out clause next year.
As for the Heat, they have shown no intentions of trading their superstar forward despite what has gone down in the recent past.