Miami Heat president Pat Riley held an end-of-season press conference on Monday in which he made some pointed comments about All-Star forward Jimmy Butler's off-court antics, but also said that he would not consider trading him this summer.
Butler sprained his knee last month against the 76ers in the Play-In Tournament, and was sidelined when the Heat lost to the Boston Celtics in five games in the first round of the playoffs. After Miami's surprise Game 2 win, Butler trolled the Celtics on Instagram.
During an in-game interview in Game 3, he criticized the media for not giving the Heat enough credit, and said they were going to win the game and the series.
"I think we believe," Butler told TNT. "It's everybody else that don't. If I gotta hear one more praise about Boston on national TV when we win a game, I'm tired of hearing that man. It's 1-1. We gonna go up 2-1. See ya later, peace!"
Earlier this month, he made his strongest comments yet, telling Rock the Bells that the Heat would have eliminated the Celtics or the New York Knicks if he would have been healthy.
"Video this, 1, 2, 3 action," Butler said. "If I was playing, Boston would be at home, New York would damn sure would f---ing be at home. Josh Hart? Come on man. I love [Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau]. Thibs, I love you baby, but I want to beat you to a pulp."
Asked about Butler's various comments on Monday, Riley admonished his star.
"For him to say that, I thought, 'is that Jimmy trolling? Or is that Jimmy serious?'" Riley said. "If you're not on the court playing against Boston, or on the court playing against the New York Knicks, you should keep your mouth shut."
That wasn't Riley's only notable statement about Butler. Asked about a potential extension for the 34-year-old, who is under contract for next season and has a player option for 2025-26, Riley was non-committal. "We don't have to do that for a year. We have not discussed that internally right now but we have to look at making that kind of commitment."
Riley did, however, say that the team has no interest in trading Butler this summer.
While the Heat apparently have no plans to trade Butler, it will be interesting to see if they make any other changes after a disappointing season in which they were beset by injuries and finished in eighth place in the Eastern Conference at 46-36.
