Paul Pierce went off on Pat Riley on the latest episode of ‘Ticket and the Truth‘. He slammed Riley for treating players poorly. He spoke about how Jimmy Butler should handle himself and pointed out how Riley has discarded the Heat’s star players like Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, and many others during their time. He accused Riley of getting rid of players after getting everything he needs out of them.
“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.”
“So now, it make me look at Pat Riley, like, ‘Oh, once I get whatever I got out of you, you can get the f**k out of here,’” Pierce said. “That’s what Pat Riley’s mentality is. ‘Once I got — Shaq, I got a chip out of you. Alright, who gives a f**k about you? LeBron, alright get out the — Wade, you too.’ That’s what it’s starting to look like to me. ‘Once I get what I want out of you, kick rocks.’”
Pierce did not hold back on Riley, speaking from a player’s perspective on his treatment. The Miami Heat president has been ruthless when it comes to treating players, regardless of their star power and what they have contributed to the Heat during their tenure.
Pat Riley Slammed For His Behavior
Paul Pierce is far from the only voice that has weighed in on the way Pat Riley has been handling business as Heat president. Tim Hardaway Sr. also went off on him for his recent behavior, even going as far as to claim that he is killing the long-famed Heat Culture.
Riley himself has admitted that he has had poor relationships with all of his players. So this fact is at least not lost on him.
Jimmy Butler’s relationship with Pat Riley fell apart after Riley told him to ‘Shut his mouth’ in a press conference last summer. And with his trade demand, Riley only made things worse by suspending him for seven games, which cost Butler around $2.3 million in-game salary.
The NBPA was appalled by this decision and launched a complaint into the matter. In response to this, Riley sent a 10-page letter with video footage defending the decisions. We’ll see how the NBA adjudicates when it comes to this matter.
Butler, for his part, has completely abandoned any notion of trying to fix the relationship, taking a shot at the Heat president on his Instagram story. Butler could be one of eight players to leave the franchise this season, and it is hard not to blame Riley for many of their departures.
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