Pat Riley and Jimmy Butler, on a years-long collision course of stubbornness and inevitability, have reached their natural conclusion: an impending, public and potentially ugly divorce.
On Thursday night, after the Heat lost to the Indiana Pacers, Butler took to the podium and declared they seemed to have reached the end of their time together.
"I want to see me getting my joy back playing basketball," Butler said. "Wherever that may be. We'll find out here pretty soon. I'm happy here off the court, but I want to get back to somewhat dominant. I want to hoop. And I want to help this team win, and right now I'm not doing it."
If that seemed problematic, his follow-up sealed the deal. Asked if he could see himself getting his joy back on the court with his current team, he offered this uh-oh clarifier: "Probably not."
This was always coming, even back in 2019 when Butler left Philadelphia and headed to the Heat -- his fourth team in three seasons. Butler has always pushed his teams to excellence while overstaying his welcome and rubbing many the wrong way.
In fact, this impending goodbye may have been set in motion way back in 2014, years before Butler even arrived in Miami.
This was when rumors were swirling that LeBron James might leave in free agency after four years in Miami, and Heat president Pat Riley's job was to convince him to do otherwise.
Riley's approach? Use his annual end-of-season press conference to use a tough-love, throwing-shade, old-school approach.
"This stuff is hard," he said at the time, his words aimed clearly at the King, though Riley did, in fact, miss. "And you got to stay together, if you've got the guts. And you don't find the first door and run out of it."
LeBron announced his return to Cleveland a few weeks later. He had, in fact, found the door out, a journey many think was made easier by Riley's approach.
If this sounds familiar, it should. Because last May, after the Heat lost to the Celtics in the first round of playoffs, Butler said if he'd been healthy for that series, the Heat would have moved on.
Riley, again, went old-school -- using that same tone he'd unsheathed in response to LeBron's would-be exit -- to respond to Butler expressing his belief in himself.
"For him to say that, I thought, is that Jimmy trolling or is that Jimmy serious?" Riley said. "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."
Translation: Shut up, Jimmy.
And so here we are. Playoff Jimmy and Old Man Riles, two winners, a modern star and an old-school exec, both quick with the candor, edgy to the point of turning off the people they rely on for success, head-strong to the point of obstinacy, veering toward the end of their time together.
For a time, it worked beautifully.
In the past five seasons, the Heat have made three Eastern Conference finals, advancing twice to the NBA Finals. Nineteen months ago, they were tied with the Denver Nuggets at 1-1, three wins away from lifting the Larry O'Brien trophy. Today, a divorce feels imminent -- and, for Miami, expected.
Sources say the Heat have been planning for this contingency for weeks, even as Riley released a statement last week saying the opposite: "We usually don't comment on rumors, but all this speculation has become a distraction to the team and is not fair to the players and coaches. Therefore, we will make it clear - We are not trading Jimmy Butler."
But internally, the conversations centered on a plan if, as seemed increasingly likely, Butler forced their hand. They were already listening to potential offers without soliciting or encouraging them. They'd decided Butler was not untradeable. And they believed even without him they could still contend, even as they hoped and preferred he stick around.
In internal deliberations, the Heat concluded they would want a key piece to help them win now in any deal that sent Butler away from Miami.
"We don't do rebuilds," one source quipped.
The Heat operate, even now as Butler looks to force his way to any other NBA team, under the idea they are a real contender. They believe avoiding the Play-In Tournament is critical. They acknowledge the Celtics are the East' best team but don't view them as unbeatable. They point out, as they have for years, their track record of playoff success post-LeBron came when most around the NBA doubted their chances, as they do today.
And they're certain that trying to prove us all wrong this time without Jimmy Butler may just be part of the business of basketball in 2024.
Especially when Pat Riley runs your team.
Riley alienated LeBron in 2014, and his anger toward his former star, long after LeBron left for Cleveland, permeated the entire organization for years. Riley had a (short-lived) falling out with Heat legend Dwyane Wade. Years before that, it was Riley's-way-or-the-highway for Shaquille O'Neal -- and that highway took Shaq out of Miami and to Phoenix.
And still the Heat have ticked along, competing at the highest levels, and proof -- at least within the Heat organization -- that the Heat Way, the Pat Riley Way, works.
For Butler, the falling out goes back to the end of last year, and into a summer in which he wanted an extension and Riley again traded out charm for his here's-how-it-is approach to problems.
The irony here is how much Butler and Riley have in common. Both are uniquely gifted at winning when it matters most. Both are insanely (many around them would say "brutally") competitive. Both lift those up around them while simultaneously wearing them down. And both think they know best, and can win beside whomever they're with -- including, if need be, without each other.
It was inevitable a Butler-Riley combo would bear some fruit. And it was equally certain the ending would arrive as it has: After games of chicken, counter moves pushing for leverage and the high ground, all in public, with each trying to prove they are the true Alpha in this drama.
Pat Riley and Jimmy Butler are simply too similar to spend, it now seems obvious, any more time together.
