Jimmy Butler’s agent — Bernie Lee — replied on Monday to Miami Warmth workforce president Pat Riley’s grievance of his big name consumer.
All over his season-ending information convention on Monday, Riley referred to as out Butler two times.
The 79-year-old Corridor of Famer first criticized the six-time All-Superstar for his rarity of availability all the way through the season. Butler performed in 60 video games all the way through the 2023-24 common season earlier than lacking the workforce’s 2d play-in event sport and all the first-round sequence in opposition to the Boston Celtics with an MCL trauma.
“Taking issue in games in which he plays is just not reality,” Lee instructed Ira Winderman of the South Florida Solar Sentinel. “This past season, we had a conversation at the start of the year, just with some of the changes, rules changes in the NBA, the priority that was in place to be able to participate in every game he was physically able to participate for, and I can tell you that he lived up that commitment.”
In his feedback, Riley additionally stated that the 2 aspects mentioned Butler’s availability “thoroughly” previous to the 2023-24 marketing campaign, however there used to be a “gray area” within the common season. When requested if the 34-year-old may nonetheless be a govern participant on a championship-winning workforce, Riley stated, “Yes… but it will take some changes” in his availability.
“Jimmy overlooked 22 video games this time 12 months, a mixture of
non-public causes and trauma,” Lee said. “If there used to be a sport that used to be at the agenda that
Jimmy used to be wholesome plethora to take part in, he did that. He performed in a host
of back-to-backs and it used to be the last precedence to him to do the entirety he can
to be to be had.”
In an try to take on the problem of load control, the NBA invoked a minimal criterion of 65 video games performed to be eligible for postseason awards.
Lee wasn’t achieved protecting Butler.
“In the event you have a look at Jimmy’s complete occupation, I’m now not in reality
positive the place this narrative is coming from, when it comes to continuously dissecting his
availability. However for those who have a look at his 5 years in Miami, the Miami Warmth have
participated in 61 playoff video games, now not together with those time playoffs that he used to be
injured for. Of the ones 61, Jimmy has most effective overlooked 3 as a result of trauma. In
each and every unmarried playoff sequence since he’s been in Miami, he’s led the workforce in each
mins in line with sport and general mins,” he said. “He’s achieved that for 5 instantly years. Endmost 12 months,
isolated, within the run to the Finals, he performed virtually 900 mins within the playoffs
(874), necessarily like part what he and nearly all of avid gamers play games 2,000 (in
the common season). He performed part of that for the duration of 4 sequence.”
The agent added that all 22 of Butler’s missed games were for “legitimate problems and issues.”
