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Jimmy Butler’s the latest player to escape the Miami Heat‘s reign run by Pat Riley, but not the first.
In recent memory, fans will remember when LeBron James decided to take his talents back to the Cleveland Cavaliers on the heels of three NBA Finals appearances and two championships with Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade as his Big 3.
When the three linked up, James bragged that the team could win “Not one, not two, not three” championships together, so fans were confused when he left. Thanks to a recent episode of The Underground Lounge featuring Wade, we might know why King James was done with the infamous Heat Culture.
It basically all boils down to former coach turned Heat executive Pat Riley messing with what seemed to be a perfect formula.
“It was too much micromanaging at that point,” Wade said. “You’re talking about a team who’s four Finals in a row. You don’t need to micromanage us, and I felt that [Riley] went a little too far with his micromanaging.”
Dwyane Wade says LeBron James was PISSED when Pat Riley took his cookies and felt that was a sign LeBron might leave due to Riley’s micromanagement
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@undergrndlounge / h/t @HeatCulture13 )
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) February 26, 2025
Wade explains that it started when they were boarding the plane to head back to Maimi, and they started their ritual of playing cards with each other. He remembers that, like clockwork, during the game, James would ask someone to bring him his dessert of choice: chocolate chip cookies.
That was until one day, a staff member whispered into James’s ear that no cookies were on board, which may have changed his attitude toward management.
“He loves chocolate chip cookies and ice cream,” Wade explained before adding that it was so serious to James that he sat back in his chair and stopped playing cards with his teammates.
“You’re talking about a team that’s four finals in a row, you don’t need to micromanage us and I feel like [Riley] went a little too far at moments like that,” Wade said. “He’s a grown man, you don’t take the cookies away. I need to have my comforts along the way, or I ain’t gon’ be me. And [Riley] took all those comforts away.”
Sources told ESPN in 2018 that James and Riley haven’t spoken since he left the Heat in 2014. Riley blamed the Heat’s downfall on James’ departure, but in highlight, he released that going back to the hometown Cavs made sense.
“While there may have been some carnage always left behind when he made these kinds of moves, in Cleveland and also in Miami, he did the right thing,” Riley told Sports Illustrated.
See how social media’s reacting to the cookie confiscating incident below.