If Pat Riley is going to successfully emerge from the mess he and his team find themselves in, the Miami Heat president will have to take the most difficult advice of his career: His own. For at least the third time in just over a decade,

Pat Riley and Jimmy Butler have apparently not been on the same page for a long time. On Tuesday, NBA insider Chris Haynes reported that the Miami Heat president and his All-Star player have been at odds since the summer.

Butler was said to be “caught off guard” by the comments according to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. There have been many events that have led to the fractured relationship between Butler and the Heat with the one mentioned by Haynes being when the team questioned the effort level.

Miami Heat star Tyler Herro explains how president Pat Riley's criticism helped him become a better player unlike Jimmy Butler.

Although Jimmy Butler broke the silence on his Miami Heat return, there’s plenty more to the story. The ongoing feud between Butler, and team president Pat Riley has been the height of the discussion.

The Jimmy-Butler-Heat saga is layers deep. The six-time All-Star forward — who has made it clear he wants a trade out of Miami — realized that he wasn’t in the Heat’s future plans when team president Pat Riley called a meeting with center Bam Adebayo to crown him leader of the franchise before the 2023-24 season,

The Miami Heat find the ideal solution to move on from Jimmy Butler in a four-team deal including the Phoenix Suns, Brooklyn Nets, and Toronto Raptors.