Pat Riley is the real man behind Cookie Monster’s costume.
Dwyane Wade told a wild story on the “Underground Lounge” podcast about former Heat teammate LeBron James throwing a fit over Pat Riley taking away his cookies on the team plane.
It was a moment that gave Wade pause about James’ future in Miami.
“This was the first moment that I had an inkling that LeBron may not be back,” Wade said. “One thing you don’t do is f–k with LeBron’s cookies. This is serious. Like, he loves chocolate chip cookies. Chocolate chip cookies and ice cream, he loves.
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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“So when he gets on the plane, LeBron walks on the plane with two bags of food. One bag is all cookies, and the [other] bag is what his chef has prepared for him to eat because he eats a certain way. He don’t eat what’s on the plane… So we get on the plane, and we play cards at the front of the plane, and at some point, LeBron’s gonna be like, ‘Hey, bring me those cookies.’ And one day, he said, ‘Hey, where are my cookies?’ And this one day, they had to come up and whisper in his ear and tell him that there were no more cookies on the plane.”
That’s when things took a turn.
“That motherf–ker sat back away from the game. He pushed them cards back he sat there quietly, his head like this [nodding]. He didn’t play cards no more. It’s serious. It was too much micromanaging at that point,” Wade said. “You’re talking about a team who is four Finals in a row. You don’t need to micromanage us. I felt that ‘Riles’ went a little too far with his micromanaging at points like that. He’s a grown man; you don’t take the cookies away from him.”
James famously announced his intention to join the Heat in the infamous “The Decision,” which aired on ESPN on July 8, 2010, declaring he was taking his “talents to South Beach” — a choice met with much vitriol, especially from Cavaliers fans.
The Heat, with James, Wade and Chris Bosh, went to four consecutive NBA Finals from 2011-14, winning it all in ’12 and ’13.
In 2014, James opted to return to Cleveland, a decision met with resistance from Riley, who stopped just short of invoking Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, who had previously called the NBA star “Benedict Arnold” when he left the franchise years before.
James went on to win another title with Cleveland in 2016 and added a fourth with the Lakers in 2020, while the Heat have not been able to get over the hump.
At the 2025 NBA trade deadline, star forward Jimmy Butler forced a trade out of Miami, and in a final meeting with Butler, Riley reportedly was in tears after attempting to convince the six-time NBA All-Star to stay with the Heat — though he did poke fun at his tumultuous Heat beef.
When picking up a coffee at his Miami shop, Butler made an example of one of his employees.
“I gave you a compliment. That’s what bosses do,” he said with a smile. “We build you up, we don’t break you down.”
Butler was then traded to the Warriors and looks rejuvenated, as Golden State has a 6-1 record since the trade.