Pat Riley challenged Jimmy Butler. Now, Butler must respond

Even though it arrived over two months sooner in the calendar year than the organization would’ve liked, everyone’s favorite annual press conference was Monday: Pat Riley’s end-of-season presser.

It’s a spectacle on the Miami Heat’s calendar where the team president outlines all his thoughts on everything from the team’s current condition to its potential process to get better.

Riley’s presser always hammers one common theme: Sending a message–publicly, not privately.

Some messages are subtle, whereas others are more direct and pointed. Let’s say that Monday’s sentiment fits the latter.

Nearly a decade removed from the infamous 2014 presser, where he indirectly challenged LeBron James to have the “guts” and not walk out the first door he sees, Riley not only challenged the team’s lack of availability, but specifically Jimmy Butler’s.

Miami’s players missed the 10th-most days due to injury and had a franchise-record 35 starting lineups–or, on average, one new one for every two games, roughly. Three teams that Riley singled out–Oklahoma City, Minnesota and Orlando–had their stars, for the most part, reach the 70-game threshold.

Both Riley and Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra noted that the lack of availability has become a leaguewide issue–though not for everyone. LeBron James, who turned 39-years-old in December, had his healthiest season since joining Los Angeles, appearing in 71 games; Anthony Davis played a career-high 76 games; Kawhi Leonard, who’s repeatedly dealt with an ailing knee, played 68 games; Kevin Durant, who missed roughly 42 percent of his team’s available games from 2020-23 with multiple lower-body injuries, played 75 games; Paul George played 74 games; Zion Williamson played in 70 games–only the second time of his five-year career playing in at least 35 percent of his team’s contests.

Maybe it was a happy coincidence that, in the first year, players who have missed time in the past were available in the inaugural campaign for the 65-game initiative (for postseason awards).

Miami could not say the same.

The team’s continuity–or lack thereof–was arguably the team’s biggest reason for their inconsistent nature. The same could be said for Miami’s franchise superstar, who missed a quarter of its regular season games for the third time and, unfortunately, the first round of the postseason due to a freak sprained MCL injury.

Butler is eligible for a two-year, $113 million extension beginning on July 7. It would add roughly $2 million onto Jimmy’s 2025-26 salary figure–currently $52.4 million–while essentially tacking on nearly $60 million the ensuing season, Butler’s age-37 season. Riley was, understandably, non-commital to rewarding Butler a max extension. Though he issued an ultimatum: Play–and not halfheartedly–in order for this team to get over the hump.

“If he requests [an extension], we can either accept or we can say, ‘We’re gonna think about it,’” Riley said. “That’s a big decision on our part, to commit those kinds of resources, unless you’re somebody who’s going to be there every night.

“We have not discussed that internally right now. We have to look at making that kind of commitment and when do we do it. We don’t have to do it until 2025, actually. But we’ll see. We haven’t made a decision on it, and we haven’t really in earnest discussed it.”

“Just like anyone else, he may need to make some changes in his overload routine.”

Miami’s president also didn’t take kindly to a recent video of Butler saying that the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks “would be at home” if he was playing.

“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, if you’re not on the court playing against the New York Knicks, you should keep your mouth shut in your criticism of those teams.”

Jimmy Butler:

“If I was playing, Boston would be at home, New York damn sure would be at home. Josh Hart? C’mon man.” 👀
pic.twitter.com/8Po2qOZq71

— Ahn Fire Digital (@AhnFireDigital) May 4, 2024

Riley wasn’t even content with the aforementioned 65-game rule–noting that it incentivized some to miss 17 games, a threshold he believes is too high. Butler hasn’t reached that threshold since 2018-19, his last season before joining Miami.

All things considered, it’s not a surprise that it was a play-in team for the second consecutive season. The team’s roster construction didn’t help, nor did the health, nor did the team’s bottom-third offense in the halfcourt or transition, among other things.

Riley did not only point to Butler’s lack of availability. He called Tyler Herro “fragile” with the need to make “adjustments.”

But the centered focus around Butler is … well, this is largely his team. It’s the Jimmy Butler build; Riley even called him the team’s biggest “needle mover.”

“Who moves the needle the most on our team is Jimmy,” Riley said. “Jimmy moves the needle the most. He’s an incredible player. What I said at the beginning about change is he’s got to give it some thought himself for this team to be what he wants it to be, and what I want it to be, and [team owner] Micky [Arison] and everybody else. This five-year window, we’ve been pretty successful. We haven’t won the chip and I think that bothers everybody.”

The Miami Heat essentially go as Butler does. That’s been the theme–especially in the postseason–during his tenure. But in 2023-24 specifically, you could point to numerous instances–including in losses–where Butler’s disposition on the court wasn’t up to par, which contributed to the team’s inconsistency and inability to win big games.

And for an extension, there has to be a two-way commitment to be more available–physically and mentally.

His agent Bernard Lee disputed that speculation in response to Riley’s presser Monday:

“Taking issue in games in which he plays is just not reality,” Lee said, according to Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. “This past season, we had a conversation at the start of the year, just with some of the changes, rules changes in the NBA, the priority that was in place to be able to participate in every game he was physically able to participate for, and I can tell you that he lived up that commitment.

“But unfortunately he isn’t a robot and injuries and circumstances happen. Prior to the year, we had a meeting to discuss the changing NBA rules and the need to reject load management, And we all understood the assignment. Jimmy’s 22 games missed were all for valid issues and concerns.”

“Jimmy missed 22 games this past year, a mix of personal reasons and injury … If there was a game that was on the schedule that Jimmy was healthy enough to participate in, he did that. He played in a number of back-to-backs and it was the utmost priority to him to do everything he can to be available.

“When you dive into even more, Jimmy played his highest minutes per game (34.0) since Minnesota (36.1 in 2018-19). He played over 2,000, the third year in a row that he’s done that (it was actually 1,931 in 2021-22). He was third on the team in total minutes played (this past season).

“If you look at Jimmy’s entire career, I’m not really sure where this narrative is coming from, in terms of constantly dissecting his availability. But if you look at his five years in Miami, the Miami Heat have participated in 61 playoff games, not including these past playoffs that he was injured for. Of those 61, Jimmy has only missed three because of injury. In every single playoff series since he’s been in Miami, he’s led the team in both minutes per game and total minutes.”

Whether it was decline, injury, an effect due to personal reasons (he did miss time due to a family death) or he was discouraged by Joe Cronin acting in bad faith due to the Damian Lillard saga–he had arguably his worst season donning scarlet red.

And Riley is now challenging him. James wasn’t appreciative and went back home in 2014.

But there are two differences: James was a free agent (Butler wasn’t), and Butler has shown to be less sensitive to constructive criticism–specifically in Miami. Monday was yet another reminder of whose voice still reigns loudest, whether it was brash, blunt or even constructive.

And Miami’s superstar now must respond, because if he doesn’t, this organization could steer back toward the territory that Butler saved it from five years ago: Mediocrity.

***

To check out our other content, click here.

Follow Hot Hot Hoops on Twitter/X here!

Follow Hot Hot Hoops on Instagram here!