Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler reportedly didn’t take kindly to comments that team president Pat Riley made regarding the 35-year-old in May. Butler claimed that the Heat would’ve eliminated the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks in the 2024 NBA Playoffs if he had been healthy, and Riley said that the six-time All-Star should have kept his “mouth shut.”
That appears to be just one chapter in a long book of reasons why Butler has grown unhappy with the Heat, and it doesn’t even appear to be the biggest. He has also reportedly been unhappy with his contract situation, the way the Heat have handled trade rumors and is presumably unhappy with his seven-game suspension that was just handed down.
Considering that Butler now wants a trade and former Heat stars Shaquille O’Neal, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade all had exits from Miami with Riley at the helm, NBA legend Paul Pierce credited the 79-year-old for “slowly killing” the Heat’s culture. He also implied that superstars aren’t going to want to play for Miami in the future because they have been historically disrespected.
.@paulpierce34: Pat Riley is slowly killing "Heat Culture."
"You ran Shaq out of town, you ran LeBron out of town, you ran D.Wade out of town… Now you're running Jimmy Butler out of town." pic.twitter.com/IeFHQ7tWcE
— Speak (@SpeakOnFS1) January 4, 2025
The Players see what’s going on with all Miami superstars , so why would another Superstar player go to Miami if this how they all get treated with no respect,after what they have done for the Franchise 🤷🏾♂️🤔🤔🤔
— Paul Pierce (@paulpierce34) January 4, 2025
James, O’Neal and Wade all had strong stints with the Heat and are among the top payers in franchise history.
O’Neal proved to be a great No. 2 option alongside Wade, and the two led the Heat to their first ever title back in 2006.
But O’Neal didn’t even last two more full seasons with the Heat after the team captured a title before he was traded out of Miami. He was traded to the Phoenix Suns midway through the 2007-08 season.
Later, the Heat were perennial contenders with their Big 3 of James, Wade and Chris Bosh in the early 2010s. They won two championships during that era. However, James left the Heat for the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2014 offseason after he spent just four seasons in Miami.
His swan song with the Heat also ended in a Finals appearance, so Miami seemingly could have carved out more deep playoff runs during that era had James stuck around. The Heat reached four consecutive NBA Finals with James on the roster.
Lastly, Wade signed with the Chicago Bulls in the summer of 2016 after spending the first decade-plus of his NBA career in Miami. However, Wade did return to the Heat before his NBA career was finished, and he retired from the league after he logged 72 games played and two starts with Miami in the 2018-19 season.
The question now is how Butler’s stint with the Heat will end after he gave the franchise some fantastic seasons and playoff runs.
