Heat President Pat Riley responds to Jimmy Butler’s comments. Is a trade trade brewing in Miami?
The Miami Heat are fresh off their 4-1 opening round loss to the Boston Celtics, but Jimmy Butler still finds himself in the news, despite not playing.
Everyone has a different way of digesting defeat. In times of heartbreak, players and coaches (and sometimes presidents) don’t hold back when in front of the microphone. The Miami Heat are feeling the effects of their first round loss to the Boston Celtics, and the aftermath of the post-series statements.
Celtics cool the Heat
The Heat had to battle through the Play-In tournament just to get to the playoffs after a disappointing show in the regular season. Their win against the Chicago Bulls in the second round of the Play-In secured their spot in the first round of the playoffs, setting up a rematch of the Conference Finals with the Boston Celtics.
They would win just one game and needed a franchise record setting night from the three point line to beat Boston. The one seeded Celtics knocked out the Heat in the fifth game of the series, and they did it barely breaking a sweat.
Jimmy Butler was forced to watch the series from the sidelines after spraining his MCL in the Play-In game against the Philadelphia 76ers. His team was able to get past Chicago in the do or die Play-In game, but it was a different story against perhaps the league’s best team. Miami didn’t have their top scorer against Boston and it showed. There were a handful of games that the Heat’s offense couldn’t went long spells without scoring.
Butler warns of what could have been
In a video shot a couple days ago for hip-hop culture news outlet Rock the Bells, Jimmy told the camera, and the world ”If I was playing, Boston would be at home,” Butler said. “New York damn sure would be at home.
“... What does that mean to me? Josh Hart, what?”
Butler knows what it’s like to beat the Celtics. He and the Heat took down Boston in last year’s Eastern Conference Finals. What problem he has with the Knicks and why he brought them into the equation is still unknown. Perhaps he has a personal vendetta with New York, or perhaps he simply thinks the Heat were a lock to beat the Knicks, but it didn’t sit too well with Miami president Pat Riley.
Riley responds
The former Lakers and Heat coach wasn’t sure if Jimmy was “trolling” or serious, but one thing he did say was “If you’re not on the court playing against Boston, if you’re not on the court playing against the New York Knicks, you should keep your mouth shut in your criticism of those teams.”
Riley knows what it’s like to have to deal with superstars. Remember he was the head coach of the Lakers during the showtime days and Miami’s Big Three of LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh. He may not be the coach of the Heat but he is the president, and he used his platform to send a message to the star of his franchise.
While there might be a minor spat in South Beach in the wake of Miami’s early exit from the playoffs, there are no reports that Butler is unhappy in Miami, or Miami being unhappy with Butler. They have a group that are capable of making a deep run in the playoffs and Pat Riley knows just how important of a piece of the puzzle Playoff Jimmy is.