Former Miami Heat star Tim Hardaway Sr. recently chimed in on his former team’s situation and claimed that Pat Riley is miffed with Jimmy Butler.
Hardaway said this during his recent All the Smoke podcast episode, as he agrees with Riley’s stance on the mercurial forward’s availability and antics. The former five-time NBA All-Star believes that the last straw for the Miami Heat’s “godfather” was when Butler trolled the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks after the team suffered a first-round exit during the postseason.
“I was waiting on that,” Hardaway said. “I knew something was going to happen. I told some people, I said, ‘Pat gon talk this year,’ especially you know he’s tired of a lot of things that are going on with the team. He’s tired of Jimmy Butler.”
“More so, if Jimmy didn’t say anything about other teams when you’re not playing, it would’ve been alright. But when you came out and said that, yeah, he’s probably talking about both of them (Butler and Tyler Herro), but I think he’s really talking (to Butler) directly,” he added.
Jimmy Butler’s contract situation with the Miami Heat
Jimmy Butler will earn roughly $48.8 million in annual salary next season before he can trigger his $52.4 million player option in the summer of 2025.
Pat Riley and co. are hesitant to give Butler a new contract extension because the 35-year-old hasn’t played at least 65 regular season games while wearing a Miami Heat uniform.
The six-time NBA All-Star is coming off his worst statistical regular season campaign in South Beach, averaging 20.8 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5.0 assists, and 1.3 steals in 60 regular season games. Jimmy Butler didn’t play in the playoffs after he injured his knee during the play-in tournament.
