Former Miami Heat forward Antoine Walker believes that how Heat president Pat Riley handles the situation with Jimmy Butler could deter players from wanting to sign with the Heat in the future.
“You have to cater to the guys a little more, and that’s not Pat Riley’s MO”
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“It’s a player’s league,” Walker said. “The league has changed over. It’s turnt over – not saying you have to take anything from a player – but it’s turnt over now. It’s more player friendly. You gotta try to cater to the guys a little bit more. And that’s not Pat Riley’s MO. Pat Riley has – you have the NBA rules – and then you have Pat Riley’s rules. And everybody that knows that and played for Miami understands that and knows Pat has his own set of rules and you have to do things one way.
“It’s different now. It’s a different era – different players. A different way you have to think. I think that’s where the struggle comes in at.”
Walker talked about the role of social media and how things play out there that didn’t in the past.
“Obviously, players pay attention to it,” Walker said. “Players have a lot of respect for Jimmy. He’s an All-Star in this league. So, players are going to look at what Jimmy’s going through, and that could deter them from maybe wanting to sign with the Heat if it doesn’t play out the right way.”
This season has been a tough one for Butler and the Heat. The six-time All-Star is in what could be the final season of his contract (he does have a player option for the 2025-26 season), and he recently requested to be traded from the franchise.
However, the Heat are in a tight race for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, and it may be hard for them to find a trade for Butler that also benefits the organization with the league’s trade deadline on Feb. 6 approaching.
Walker isn’t the only former Heat player that has spoken out about the Butler situation. Heat legend Dwyane Wade called the situation “tragic” given all that Butler has done for the Heat since signing with the franchise prior to the 2019-20 season.
“To give Jimmy credit, Jimmy came in when they were losing the face of their franchise and became the face of the franchise,” Wade said. “That’s hard to do. He became the people that those guys want to buy his jersey, wear his jersey. The Heat was a soft landing spot for Jimmy and Jimmy was exactly the star that the Heat needed for six years – Finals, big moments that they’ve had together.
“It’s ending tragically, this is tragic. This is a tragic way to end a relationship. So as a former player, it’s ugly on our franchise, it’s a stain on our franchise that we continue to have the way that the relationships break up. But also, too, on the other side, you don’t run that organization as a player. So you get to that space sometimes where you want to do things your way. It’s Pat Riley’s way.”
Butler, who was suspended by Miami earlier this season for seven games for conduct detrimental to the team, has appeared in just 25 games. He’s averaging 17.0 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game while shooting 54.0 percent from the field and 36.1 percent from 3.
The five-time All-NBA selection is averaging his fewest points per game since his third season in the NBA.
As a result, the Heat hold the No. 9 seed in the Eastern Conference with a 21-21 record. While Walker may be right that players could look to avoid Miami if the Butler situation isn’t handled well, Riley also has an obligation to the fans and team to try to build a playoff-caliber roster.
It’ll be interesting to see if there is any traction towards a Butler trade in the coming days.