Pat Riley admits East Rivals have kicked his a**, says maybe he's 'washed'

Since welcoming Jimmy Butler, the Miami Heat have already been to the NBA Finals twice, albeit losing both times.

On the other hand, their longtime rivals, the Boston Celtics, are coming off the heels of lifting the Larry O'Brien trophy in 2024. They have now taken their total NBA Championship tally to 18.

Fast-forward to this point in the 2024-25 NBA season. The Celtics are doing well in their quest to defend their title while the Heat are struggling to keep the face of their franchise on the roster.

As a result, President Pat Riley has taken a lot of heat in the NBA community for seemingly forcing Butler to begin the next chapter of his career elsewhere. On top of that, since Riley isn't on social media, many think that the Heat president doesn't care about the Celtics being better than the Heat.

"Whoever’s saying that I haven’t read it because I’m not on any social media site. Not one. And, I don’t care. I’ve had my a** kicked by the Celtics enough when I was coaching and they’re a great team,” Riley said. “They put together a great organization, a great team, and they've broken all records financially, so they've committed themselves."

He added: "This is an important year for the Heat, I don't worry about what the critics say. Maybe I am [washed]. Maybe I should go somewhere and put my feet up but then I'll become obsessive and compulsive about doing something else."

Pat Riley on people calling him washed after the Celtics won the title

“Whoever’s saying that I haven’t read it because I’m not on any social media site and I don’t care. I’ve had my a** kicked by the Celtics enough when I was coaching and they’re a great team”

“I don’t worry… pic.twitter.com/SyIXENEWc4
— Emo Jimmy (@HeatCulture13) January 9, 2025

In his own way, Riley has nipped the rumors of him leaving the Heat in the bud as the 79-year-old is obsessed with making the organization the best team in the league.

Right now, the Heat are the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference with a 19-17 record. If they can quickly resolve the Butler situation, they may make another deep run in the postseason and hopefully, win it all for the first time since the Heatles era in 2013.