Miami Heat president Pat Riley responded to criticism directed at LeBron James from Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Aigne. "Danny Ainge needs to shut the f--- up and manage his own team," Riley said in a statement released through a Heat spokesman. "He was the biggest whiner going when he was playing and I know that because I coached against him."

Ainge responded to ESPN saying he was at a loss to explain why Riley should have gotten into such a lather in the first place. Ainge would, however, fire back at the Heat president and former coach.

"I stand by what I said. That's all. I don't care about Pat Riley. He can say whatever he wants," Ainge told ESPN in the runway shortly before Friday night's game against Atlanta. "I don't want to mess up his Armani suits and all that hair goop. It would be way too expensive for me."

Ainge told Boston radio station WEEI on Thursday that James had no cause to challenge officials for failing to classify fouls assessed to Chicago's Kirk Hinrich and Taj Gibson on James as flagrant.