The Big Lead

Heat legend blames Pat Riley for letting Jimmy Butler spat to fester

By Joe Lago

Dec 10, 2022; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Heat team president Pat Riley looks on during the first half of a game against the San Antonio Spurs at FTX Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-Imagn Images
Dec 10, 2022; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Heat team president Pat Riley looks on during the first half of a game against the San Antonio Spurs at FTX Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-Imagn Images / Jim Rassol-Imagn Images
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With the Miami Heat's Jimmy Butler drama about to reach its ugly but necessary end with a trade of the six-time All-Star, the blame game for the fractured and unfixable relationship between Butler and franchise godfather Pat Riley has already started.

Tim Hardaway, the Heat's former star point guard and Hall of Famer, is placing all of the "fault" on his ex-head coach.

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On "The Draymond Green Show with Baron Davis," Hardaway said Riley made the mistake of allowing Butler to flaunt the rigid Heat culture that has long been the cornerstone of Miami's selflessness and success under the longtime team president.

"You let him fly his own private jet to different places, and he didn't meet the team for shootaround. You let that stuff get out of hand," Hardaway said of Riley. "You let Jimmy Butler say this and that, you know this and that. You let it get out of hand."

While Hardaway believes Butler "deserves his money" with a contract extension, he criticized the disgruntled forward for not always being available to play. Butler has only played 60 or more games twice in his previous five seasons with the Heat.

"Everybody deserves their money," said Hardaway, who earned two of his five All-Star nods during his six-year tenure in Miami. "But you can't play 50 percent of the games and then the play-in (tournament) game. And then we got to work just as hard to get to where we need to get to. I need to not be in the play-in game."

The situation has moved past the temporary Band-Aid of multiple-game suspensions. The Heat reportedly have lowered their asking price for Butler on the trade market and are committed to sending the 35-year-old to another team to deal with his expectations of a new multiyear deal.

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