Jimmy Butler was denied by Pat Riley for months before the Heat questioned the effort

As it is The drama between the Miami Heat and Jimmy Butler continuesa tremendous amount of detail has been released showing both sides of the story. Although it is The Heat play the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night, the team is still surrounded by a ton of rumors, including some new reports from Chris Haynes.

The NBA insider was on “The Dan LeBatard Show” where he talked about how after Pat Riley made some comments during his season-ending press conference, Butler would have been as taken aback as the two “recognized” a meeting was to be held. According to Haynes, that never materialized because the team and Butler didn’t speak until Jan. 1 when they questioned his effort level.

“I believe he made additional comments later that day or the next day,” Haynes said. “I think that’s what Pat Riley meant when he said something like, ‘If you’re not playing, you should probably shut up.'” Obviously, Jimmy (Butler) was spoiled by that. He felt those comments took things too far. Both sides recognized the need for a face-to-face meeting to clear the air after all that had happened.

“Jimmy was under the assumption that Pat would visit him during the offseason at his place in San Diego,” Haynes continued. “Jimmy even told him about it, but that meeting never happened.” Pat never went out there. There was no communication — no texts, no phone calls, no face-to-face meetings — until January 1st, when the heat brought Jimmy to the office. At that meeting, they questioned his effort, suggesting they didn’t think he was doing his best. From the end of last season until this moment, there was no communication between Jimmy and the team.

Heat’s Pat Riley tells Jimmy Butler to ‘keep his mouth shut’

Haynes talks about quotes from Riley who told Butler to “keep his mouth shut” as the star bragged that Miami beat the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks in the playoffs if healthy. He would end up missing the entire playoffs last season with a sprained MCL in the first game of the tournament for the Philadelphia 76ers as the Heat lost to the Celtics in five games.

“For him to say thatyou know, i thought, is that jimmy trolling? Or is that Jimmy serious?” Riley said. “If you’re not on the court playing Boston or on the court playing the New York Knicks, you should shut up and criticize those teams.

Butler is said to be “caught off guard” according to comments by Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. There were many events leading up to the strained relationship between Butler and the Heat with Haines mentioning when the team questioned the level of effort.

however, Butler is serving a seven-game suspension and is eligible to return on Friday when the Heat host the Denver Nuggets.