Which is to say: Before Jimmy Butler arrived in 2019, and before he led the team to multiple deep playoff runs, there were Heat season successes, postseason failures, and, — of note amid Butler's quest to not-quite-quit his way out of town, stars who thought they had a disproportionate impact on the successes compared to the team as a whole.
But like many a Saturday Night Live cast member who left weekly television hoping for big-screen stardom, many have found out tough times in Miami beat tough times elsewhere, especially as they age out of their NBA careers.
Butler's grit, determination, and leadership on the court perfectly embodied the culture Pat Riley built in Miami. But his continued in-season side quests, tendency to abuse the company's PTO policy, and, now, quitting on his team — well, that is the epitome of everything that isn't the Culture Riley Built.
Thirty-five-year-old Jimmy Butler wants to leave Miami. Eventually (and thankfully), leave he will. In anticipation of that glorious future day, let's look at how the careers of past superstars fared after leaving Miami under less-than-cordial circumstances.
Alonzo Mourning: Left at Age 33
Alonzo Mourning was the original Superstar Heat Lifer, until he wasn't. While players like Steve Smith and Glen Rice starred in Miami before Mourning, Zo was the first to lead Heat teams that entered seasons with NBA title aspirations.Mourning was the heart and soul of the Heat in the late 1990s — some would say the originator of Heat Culture — embodying the franchise's first iteration of toughness and defensive identity. However, after his first stint in Miami, he was known for coming up short with the New York Knicks, only to leave for the New Jersey Nets as a free agent in 2003.
Mourning, through no fault of his own, struggled in New Jersey, battling kidney disease that eventually sidelined him while he underwent a transplant. While his relationship with the Heat soured owing to broken promises and possibly side-mouthed information around his departure, his heart always remained in Miami, and the Heat always had a soft spot for its original star.
Mourning would later return to Miami, where he played a pivotal in the Heat's 2006 championship run alongside new franchise big man Shaquille O'Neal.
He's now Pat Riley's right-hand man in the Heat's front office.
Shaquille O'Neal: Left at Age 35
Lesson to Jimmy Butler: Even the most prominent personality the NBA has ever seen — on and off the court, take your pick — wasn't bigger than the Miami Heat. Even after bringing the city its first NBA title.Shaq's 2004 arrival in Miami, which came courtesy of Pat Riley's willingness to gamble big in trading away the young core that had been successful alongside rookie Dwyane Wade, culminated in the Heat's first NBA championship, in 2006. The relationship was a huge success. Franchise-altering, to this day.
But by 2008, O'Neal's relationship with Riley had soured. Clearly, on the downside of his career, Shaq was unwilling or unable to play the role Miami needed alongside Wade, its emerging superstar.
Shaq was traded to the Phoenix Suns.
He had some productive moments with the Suns, then bounced to Cleveland and then to Boston, becoming more of a journeyman than the dominant force he'd been in Orlando, Los Angeles, and Miami.
O'Neal wound up ending his career as the jersey-swapping poster boy of Everything a Star Shouldn't Be.
LeBron James: Left at Age 29
Look away, Jimmy. You're not that guy.LeBron James is an outlier. In life, in general, and most definitely when it comes to which past Miami Heat superstars have seen success after scorning Pat Riley.
LeBron James' Heat tenure was an unmitigated success. Legendary, even. Many believe the 2011-14 Heat changed the course of the NBA. One can debate whether the changes those Heat teams forced upon free-agency and salary-cap structures (or superstars joining forces, for that matter) have bettered the NBA, but change the league they did.
LeBron leaving Miami in 2014 after delivering two titles to the Heat felt horrific. Still, his return to Cleveland was less about animosity and more about unfinished business in his hometown.
Still, his departure, and the way he went about it, strained relationships, particularly with Riley.
In the end, as with most things he attempts, LeBron won. He delivered Cleveland its first championship in 2016 and later added another with the Lakers in 2020. But many will agree that had he not come to experience Miami Heat Culture firsthand, he would never have accomplished those things.
Many would also argue that had LeBron stayed in Miami, the Heat would be working on the greatest dynasty in sports history.
Dwyane Wade: Left at Age 34
If it didn't work for the greatest player in Miami sports history, it likely will not work for you, Jimmy.Perhaps the most poignant example of leaving the Heat being a bad idea is that of Dwyane Wade, the greatest Heat player of them all, he of statue status. After years of loyalty and late-career contract concessions, a contract dispute led Wade to abandon Miami in 2016 for the Chicago Bulls (ironically, to star alongside a young Jimmy Butler).
Wade's departure left Heat fans feeling like it was time for a funeral. But in the end, it left Wade getting a firsthand look at what it feels like to be a teammate of Jimmy Butler when he decides to trade in Playoff Jimmy for Layoff Jimmy.
Wade's time in Chicago (and, eventually, Cleveland) was forgettable, and he ultimately returned to Miami to finish his career.
And for that, we will be forever thankful.
But if we're keeping it real, Wade's departure will forever be an unfortunate stain on his Heat legacy. One that's a product of both his desire to be paid more than he was worth late in his career for past accomplishments and Riley's unwillingness to budge, even for the best.
