Jimmy Butler has made his plans clear about his future with the Miami Heat, fans suspect there were signs of it coming.
After the end of the Heatles era, the Miami Heat were stuck in mediocrity for years before Jimmy Butler finally aided the franchise in becoming competitive again.
However, the 2024-25 NBA season has been full of trade rumors involving Jimmy Butler. While president Pat Riley denied the rumors, Butler’s comments suggest otherwise.
The 6x NBA All-Star has openly expressed his desire to play anywhere in the league other than in Miami at this point in his career.
Riley has played a huge role in the Heat’s success over the years, be it as a head coach or the president of the team.
However, it feels like Riley’s methods are becoming outdated with how things have gone down with their franchise star. Amid Butler’s shocking comments, a clip of Dwyane Wade from his statue inauguration is going viral on X.
“A house divided against itself will not stand. Y’all hear that? Current Miami Heat players, y’all hear that? A house divided against itself will not stand. You either in or you out,” Wade said.
After hearing Wade’s speech from a couple of months back, fans are convinced that the Heat legend knew about the altercation between Butler and Riley.
A fan wrote, “This should’ve been directed at Pat too.” While another added, “When he made this speech I told everyone it was Jimmy. He knew Jimmy was out.”
“Incredible foreshadowing from Dwyane Wade,” one fan stated.
“I wish he didn’t direct this towards players and left it up for interpretation,” a disappointed fan wrote.
“When 4 different all-time Heat greats have a falling out with the same person, surely it means something,” a fan took a subtle shot at Riley.
In hindsight, it feels like the speech was Wade’s last-ditch attempt to resolve the Heat’s internal issues, but, alas, the 3x NBA champ has failed.
For years, Miami has proudly flaunted its player-first culture. In fact, it has made the Heat a desirable spot to join in free agency.
But the legendary Riley started a domino effect leading to Butler’s imminent departure with a statement in the summer where he urged anyone who was not on the court playing to keep their “mouth shut.”
Butler seemingly took offense to it as he stated, “No matter what I do, somebody is always saying something. Like I’ve been doing, I will keep my mouth shut and play basketball.”
At 35 years old, Butler is averaging 17.6 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 4.7 assists per game this season. If and when he gets traded from the Heat, Jimmy’s numbers should see a spike.
After all, he won’t be dealing with constant trade chatter anymore.
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