Report: Pat Riley cried during Butler meeting before Warriors trade

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Report: Pat Riley cried during Butler meeting before Warriors trade originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

The Warriors parting ways with Andrew Wiggins to land Jimmy Butler in a blockbuster trade earlier this week was an emotional goodbye, and it was no different on the other side of things.

As tensions rose between Butler and the Miami Heat organization, team president Pat Riley gave it one final shot to keep Butler in South Beach during an emotional face-to-face meeting that resulted in Riley shedding tears.

Butler and Riley met on Jan. 7 to see if there was any way to resolve the ongoing feud. Tears fell down Riley’s face as he tried to connect with Butler on a personal level after both men had lost their fathers, The Athletic’s James Jackson, Sam Amick and Jon Krawczynski reported in a joint column published Friday morning, citing multiple sources with knowledge of the meeting.

However, Riley’s emotional attempt failed with Butler, who viewed Riley’s behavior as “unhinged,” The Athletic reported, citing a league source close to the All-Star forward, and it wound up backfiring on Riley. Butler left the meeting “more convinced than ever” that he wanted to leave Miami and find a new home.

Riley, too, knew the meeting didn’t go as he intended and immediately relayed that to the rest of the Heat brass, team sources told The Athletic. It was at that moment that both sides knew a divorce was inevitable.

Tensions grew in the weeks that followed, with Butler missing a team flight, walking out of practice and ultimately serving multiple suspensions. This led to Riley and the Heat changing their mind after initially stating they would not trade Butler.

The six-time NBA All-Star felt he didn’t get the contract extension he deserved after leading Miami to two NBA Finals appearances in his five-plus seasons with the team, per The Athletic, in addition to growing irritated that the Heat failed to add more talent around him such as Damian Lillard while other teams in the Eastern Conference such as the Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks improved.

And at last, four weeks after the…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/report-pat-riley-cried-during-145845979.html

Author : NBC Sports BayArea

Publish date : 2025-02-07 14:58:00

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