Pat Riley Denies Calling Tom Thibodeau A Motherfucker And Takes Shot At Danny Ainge In Statement

Heat president Pat Riley released a statement on Friday denying that he ever called Tom Thibodeau a motherfucker during negotiations with the Timberwolves coach and president for disgruntled superstar Jimmy Butler.

The statement, released late Friday afternoon, reads:

“As to what has been reported in the past 24 hours, I have too much respect for Tom Thibodeau and all that he’s accomplished in this league. Our conversations have been nothing but cordial and I have never used that kind of language in negotiations...”

ESPN’s Jorge Sedano reported on Thursday that Riley cursed at Thibodeau after trade talks broke down last weekend for Butler to get sent to South Beach. After an initial agreement was settled for Josh Richardson, Dion Waiters and a protected first-round pick, Thibs called back asking for more picks, which led to the reported outburst from Riley.

Riley did not limit his statement to the topic of the Butler trade, however. In the second tweet of his statement, he hints at something he said about Celtics GM and president Danny Ainge.

The Heat president is apparently referencing an incident that stems back to the Heatles days in 2013 when he released a statement saying Ainge needed to “shut the fuck up and manage his own team” and calling the Boston executive “the biggest whiner.” This was in response to Ainge calling LeBron James’s foul complaints “almost embarassing.”

As overblown as the storylines in the NBA can be made out to be nowadays, executive-level beef is cool and should definitely happen more often in the league.