Pat Riley Rips Jimmy Butler's Knicks Comments
Miami Heat president Pat Riley found Jimmy Butler's comments about the New York Knicks to be quite the hot take.
Butler went viral for recentlyclaiming that both the Knicks and Boston Celtics would "be home" had he been able to partake in the ongoing NBA postseason, but Riley bluntly encouraged the South Beach star to curb his enthusiasm, especially considering his injured status.
"For him to say that, I thought, is that Jimmy trolling, or is that Jimmy serious?" Riley, a former Knicks head coach, remarked in a postseason conference (h/t WPLG). "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 and your criticism of those teams.”
Butler was particularly harsh to the Knicks in his comments to the Rock the Bells radio network, showing no regard for Josh Hart's defense and metaphorically claiming he wanted to beat head coach Tom Thibodeau "to a pulp" despite his "love" his original NBA boss. Thibodeau sarcastically responded that he would get the upper hand as the Knicks prepared for Monday's opening game of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Indiana Pacers (7:30 p.m. ET, TNT).
Though Butler and the Heat bested the Knicks in last year's conference semifinal en route to the NBA Finals, they failed to overcome several injuries and finished eighth on this year's Eastern leaderboard, their worst standings finish since 2018-19. Butler suffered a knee injury during the subsequent Play-In Tournament loss to Philadelphia, denying Miami a rematch with second-seeded New York.
Sans Butler, the Heat were able to get into the playoffs with a win over Chicago but fell to the top-seeded Celtics in five games. Miami also endured a quantum of revenge from the Knicks, dropping two of their three get-togethers in the regular season.
GEOFF MAGLIOCCHETTI
Editor-In-Chief at All Knicks