Former NBA star Paul Pierce commented on the Miami Heat‘s situation with All-Star Jimmy Butler in the 2024-25 season. According to Pierce, the Heat’s team president, Pat Riley, is ruining the culture amid the drama with their star player.
In Riley’s defense, his former player, Tim Hardaway, spoke about what Pierce said about the team executive and the organization. Hardaway slammed the former Boston Celtics star for his comments, slightly taking a dig at the Heat’s front office personnel.
Miami Heat president Pat Riley walks the red carpet at the 2023 Basketball Hall of Fame induction ceremony at Symphony Hall. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports
“Let’s talk about Paul Pierce,” Hardaway said. He said he’s better than Dwyane Wade. I’m going to stop right there. You out your mind. You’ve been smoking too much, to tell you the truth. You’re not better than Dwyane Wade, you’ve been hating on the Miami Heat since Ray Allen left Boston to go to Miami.
“That’s why he not on Pat Riley’s side or the Miami Heat’s side. He’s been hating on the Heat and Riley since day 1. Since they’ve been getting beat by the Heat. He got [a] personal vendetta against them. He’s not really speaking realistically.”
“Let’s talk about Paul Pierce. Paul said he’s better than D-Wade. You out your mind. You’ve been smoking too much, to tell you the truth. You’ve been hating on the Heat since Ray Allen left Boston to go to Miami. He’s been hating on the Heat & Pat Riley since day 1.” @HardawaySr https://t.co/kzspGVCf9A pic.twitter.com/I10pfrdNI1
— Dru (@dru_star) January 11, 2025
The Heat are an old rival to Pierce’s Celtics. During his time with the team in the early 2010s, Miami formed a Big 3 with Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh to go against what Boston had.
Together, they ruled the Eastern Conference for four years, which led to the eventual departure and disbandment of the Celtics’ star trio.
Paul Pierce said the Miami Heat executive temporarily cares for the team’s stars
Pierce might have some issues with Riley as he suggested that the team president only cares for his stars temporarily. On Friday’s episode of “TICKET & THE TRUTH,” the former Celtics star commented about the Miami Heat’s stalemate with Butler.
“If I’m Jimmy, why I wanna be here if you don’t even respect me?” Pierce asked, speaking from Butler’s perspective. “You don’t respect me nor what I’ve done, and I’ve seen this with your other superstars, like, how D-Wade don’t retire a Heat? He do retire a Heat, and he got a statue and all, but how did he get to Chicago and have to come back? That should have never happened. That was all Riley, though, you know what I’m saying? You ran LeBron because you wouldn’t let him — alright, if his guys wanna come on the plane or whatever — that’s LeBron, bro.”
Pierce suggested that once Riley has gotten what he wants from the stars, he’s ready to move on to the next.
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Reign also writes NBA and WNBA news updates on Sportskeeda. He started as a feature writer for AirAlamo, an NBA website that covers the San Antonio Spurs. Some of his work can also be seen with Valley of the Suns, a Phoenix Suns-centric website, where he served as a contributing writer.
