吉米·巴特勒和帕特·莱利的口水战会导致热火队丑陋的离婚吗？

由于吉米·巴特勒受伤并坐在替补席上，球队在季后赛第一轮出局，这让球队主席帕特·莱利开始思考下一步的行动方案，即将到来的NBA总决赛。毕竟，在迈阿密取得成功并不难，因为热火队在过去的四场总冠军系列赛中有两场都出局了。然而，健康仍然是他们最关心的问题，巴特勒和莱利最近发表的恐吓可能表明该组织内部的闭合越来越大。

巴特勒在4月17日对阵费城76人队的比赛中右膝内侧副韧带受伤后没有参加季后赛，这是热火队的第一场锦标赛附加赛。巴特勒被迫坐在替补席上看着球队输球，他声称热火队不仅会击败波士顿凯尔特人队，而且还会在季后赛中再次取得长足的进步，这成为了头条新闻。

问题是——巴特勒并不健康。

这位热火球星的这一小小的爆发，无论是否是一个玩笑，都在周一的赛季末新闻发布会上引起了莱利的批评回应。

“他们是今年联盟中最好的球队，”莱利周一谈到凯尔特人队时说道。“他这么说，你知道吗，我想，那是吉米在恶搞吗？或者吉米是认真的吗？如果你不在球场上，不在与波士顿队比赛，或者在球场上与纽约尼克斯队比赛，你应该闭嘴，不要批评那些球队。”

莱利从来不会因为自己的真实感受而退缩。这位长期担任高管和前 NBA 主教练的球员总共获得了 9 座总冠军，这一壮举与消极、说话轻声细语的个人无关。迈阿密以其文化和运作方式而闻名，这要归功于莱利如何建立这个组织。问题不在于巴特勒是否在“恶搞”或是否认真，而在于莱利在回应巴特勒的评论时是否认真对待他的意思。

联盟中的明星球员不喜欢被公开批评，尤其是被自己球队的成员批评。巴特勒的行事方式一直与其他全明星不同，以至于他实际上受到了莱利周一对他的评论的启发和激怒。然而，这位79岁的高管在经历了许多人认为失败的赛季后并没有闲着，这就是为什么他对热火全明星的评价可能会延续到休赛期他们最终的合同讨论中。

吉米巴特勒的合同情况

彼得·乔内莱特-《今日美国》体育

巴特勒现年34岁，在2024-25赛季开始前将年满35岁。当巴特勒上场时，他始终被证明是整个联盟中最好的双向球员之一。然而，他在热火队的成功却被一系列的缺席所掩盖。在迈阿密的过去五个赛季里，巴特勒总共缺席了100场常规赛，平均每个赛季缺席20场。

如果说热火队在巴特勒不在场的情况下是一支平庸的球队，那就太真实了，因为在这 100 场他们的球星不在场的常规赛中，他们的战绩为 50 胜 50 负。巴特勒多年来一直是热火队的代言人。他帮助重建了他们的文化，他们在过去五个赛季中两次闯入总决赛也不容忽视。现在的问题是巴特勒和热火队在进入夏天时互相对视，几乎就像你在那些老枪手西部电影中看到的对峙一样。

The idea of there being a disconnect between management and Butler stemming from Riley's recent comments grew slightly when the Heat executive called out the team's star, claiming that he shouldn't say anything if he isn't playing. Then again, Riley made sure to praise Butler as well, leaving everyone scratching their heads and wondering what exactly is happening in Miami.

“Who moves the needle the most on our team is Jimmy,” Riley continued. “Jimmy moves the needle the most. He’s an incredible player. What I said at the beginning about change is he’s got to give it some thought himself for this team to be what he wants it to be and what I want it to be, and [owner] Micky [Arison] and everybody else. This five-year window, we’ve been pretty successful. We haven’t won the chip, and I think that bothers everybody.”

Now, the key question is whether the Heat will offer Butler a lucrative two-year extension worth upwards of $113 million this offseason, a deal the veteran wing is reportedly seeking. Riley made it clear that the team has time to think about this decision and that they have not discussed this scenario internally. A large point of emphasis was put on the franchise wanting to keep Butler around, as Riley shot down all rumors that the Heat may look to trade him with an emphatic “no.”

The fact of the matter is that Riley and the Heat want Butler around. He is the best player on the team and the main reason why they've been able to find so much success over this five-year window Riley discussed. At the same time, durability and injuries are a problem for Butler at this point in his career.

Are the Heat willing to commit over $50 million annually to Butler, likely for the remainder of his career, despite all the concerns surrounding his availability?

How the Heat handle these upcoming extension talks with Butler will be very telling as to what direction this franchise is trending in. A potential divorce could be on the horizon should Riley and Miami's front office decide to hold off on a new contract for their star.

What Pat Riley is planning

Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports

The Heat have decisions to make this offseason that span well past extension talks with Butler. Bam Adebayo will make nearly $35 million during the 2024-25 season, and Tyler Herro will make $29 million. Terry Rozier is also not going anywhere, as he is on the books for just about $25 million. Throw in the contracts of Duncan Robinson and Caleb Martin, who owns a player option for the 2024-25 season, and all of a sudden, Miami is on the verge of being a second apron tax team that will be severely limited in terms of moves they can make to upgrade their roster.

阿德巴约对这支球队意义重大，很难想象他会去任何地方。另一方面，希罗是一位时常在交易传闻中出现自己名字的球员。去年夏天尤其如此，当时迈阿密正在追逐NBA最佳控球后卫达米安·利拉德。莱利周一发表的最新评论称赫罗“脆弱”，可能需要改变他的日常工作以提高他的耐用性，这让人们对这位前首轮新秀是否会长期留在热火队产生了一定程度的怀疑。

尽管如此，莱利新闻发布会的主题还是回到了热火队维持他们的行动方针的想法。他们在过去的几个赛季中取得了成功，这支球队的核心团队还有很大的夺冠潜力。这就是为什么莱利和热火队不准备拆除他们所建立的一切。

“没有。当被问及是否认为球队需要在休赛期做出重大改变时，莱利坚定地说道。“我们只是想尝试控制一些我们无法控制或稍微控制的事情。但在我工作的时候，我总是保持开放的态度，竖起耳朵。如果有什么事情发生，我会听。

“我们有一群非常优秀的球员，首要问题是球员的可用性以及让我们的球员每晚都能健康地参加比赛。”

莱利是否因巴特勒和热火受伤而批评他？也许。但当你把这支球队作为一个整体以及他们在过去几个赛季的表现来看时，他们唯一的限制确实是伤病。热火队拥有成功所需的球星，只要埃里克·斯波尔斯特拉在场边，他们就有机会超越联盟中其他 29 支球队中的任何一支。

在采取任何行动之前，迈阿密需要就巴特勒在球队的长期未来做出决定。如果他们不能向他提供一份可以接受的续约合同，围绕巴特勒的谣言将会继续增加