It is a breakdown in relations between two strong-willed figures, which has prompted plenty to weigh in with opinions, from Blake Griffin to Charles Barkley.

Butler has his sights set on a move to a team he considers a more legitimate championship contender, after losing patience on the Miami Heat.

Jimmy Butler once had deference to Miami Heat and Pat Riley

Jimmy Butler has come close to winning the NBA Championship twice, first on the losing side to the LA Lakers inside the bubble in 2020, losing the finals 4-2.

Butler gave it his all, and speaking after the 106-93 defeat in Game Six, he spoke of his love for the Miami Heat, and his desire to stay.

Butler told a press conference: “The fan base is incredible. The organization keeps it real all the time, the coaches do and the players do as well.

“They embraced me. They want me to be here. It’s fortunate to be able to be around people like that. I’m very fortunate. This is where I belong.”

Jimmy Butler could not have foreseen falling out with the Heat so spectacularly in the future, even paying tribute to the ‘organization’ running the team.

Butler even went on to speak about Pat Riley, explaining that he had already told him he would come back stronger and go again.

He said: “This is what my team needed me to do, the organization asked of me. I told them that I would win them one and I didn’t hold up my end of the bargain, so that means I got to do it next year.

“I told Coach Pat, I told Coach Spo I’m here to win one. I didn’t do my job, so moving forward, I got to hold up my end of the bargain.”

Jimmy Butler no longer feels he needs to hold up his end

Jimmy Butler did keep on going with the Miami Heat, and led them to another NBA Finals in 2023 against the Denver Nuggets.

The Heat came up short, losing the finals 4-1 against a series dominated by Nuggets center Nikola Jokic.

Butler’s Heat were knocked out in the first round last season by eventual champions Boston Celtics, after making their way through the play-in.

After telling Pat Riley in 2020 and making public that he had not held up his end of the bargain by winning a championship, it seems Butler has simply given up.

Now he will have misgivings over the Heat not strengthening the team sufficiently to give him the tools to win, and maybe that is fair.

Yet what’s clear is that a once close and cordial relationship between Butler and Riley has since evaporated, and the player is chasing a fresh start.

At the age of 36, Butler knows there is little time left to win a championship, and could soon be making a promise to a new team, and declaration of love to a new fanbase.

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