Last night, Heat president Pat Riley released an official statement to the press that wasn't fit to print regarding Celtics president Danny Ainge. Ainge said that it was "almost embarrassing" that LeBron James complained about the hard fouls he received during the club's loss to the Bulls, and Riley fired back in defense of his star. "[Ainge] needs to shut the [expletive] up and manage his own team. He was the biggest whiner when he was playing, and I know that because I coached against him," said Riley, according to Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today. Was there more to that comment than meets the eye? Here's more on that and other notes out of the Southeast..
- The aim of Riley's comment was to show his loyalty to James, who can become a free agent in the summer of 2014, writes Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com. While the image-conscious James was reluctant to attach himself to Riley's profane language, he was clearly appreciative of the gesture. "It was big-time to see that," James said after the Heat's win over New Orleans.
- The Hawks' Kyle Korver will be a free agent in demand, writes Stephen Brotherston of HoopsWorld. The veteran believes that he has a good four or five years left and wants to spend them with a winning team.
- Chris Kaman could have been a free agent target for the Heat this summer, but it won't happen after recent comments made in a radio interview, writes Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel. "I’m not much of a Dwyane Wade fan, but I’m a [James] fan..I just never really got along with (Dwyane Wade). I guess I just don’t like his style or whatever. I didn’t like the year the Mavs lost when he got all the foul calls. I didn’t like that," Kaman told 104.1 FM The Ticket.