Pat Riley defends telling Jimmy Butler ‘shut your mouth’

During an era where NBA coaches and executives try to protect their stars, Pat Riley defends telling Jimmy Butler to shut his mouth.

The Miami Heat just completed a disappointing season that saw them trade Butler to the Golden State Warriors before getting blown out of the NBA Playoffs by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round. After failing to calm the waters with Butler during the season, Heat fans likely wanted apologies and accountability from Riley. But when Riley took the podium Friday afternoon for his postseason press conference, the 80-year-old executive was predictably unapologetic.

One year ago, Riley met with the media after Miami’s first round playoff exit and insisted he would not trade Butler while encouraging him to play more games and telling the six-time All-Star, “you should keep your mouth shut.” Riley was responding to Butler claiming he could have led Miami to playoff wins over Boston and New York. One year later, Butler is in Golden State, Miami appears like a franchise without much direction, and Riley has no regrets.

“I don’t think what I said last year really was relevant,” Riley told Ira Winderman and other media in the room. “I simply said, softly, ‘No.’ I’m a person that in all the teams I coached, when you lose, you take your loss and you go home and you’re quiet…I will always say that to the players, if I was coaching, ‘Keep your mouth shut,’ I’ll see you next training camp when you get back on the court. But it’s different today with players.”

There is no question telling Butler to “shut your mouth” was the beginning of the end of his tenure in Miami. Maybe Riley used to be able to tell players to shut up when he was coaching. But as he even noted, it is different today with players. Players can be coached hard, but you can’t steal their cookies, and you can’t disrespect them to the media. Riley may claim he recognizes the shift, but he doesn’t act like it.