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The Philadelphia 76ers will welcome in an old friend on Saturday when they host Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat. Butler was a trade acquisition by the Sixers back in November of 2018 and Philadelphia was hoping that he, Joel Embiid, and Ben Simmons would lead the Sixers to long-term success.
Instead, Butler left for the Heat in free agency leaving the basketball world a bit stunned and the Sixers responded by re-signing Tobias Harris and acquiring Al Horford.
Butler’s short-lived Sixers career ended after 55 games with averages of 18.2 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 4.0 assists and he took on the role as the team’s closer. It also came with a lot of drama and he piqued everybody’s interest when he gave a vague reason for why he left Philadelphia for Miami over the summer.
That does not mean he doesn’t have respect for his former Sixers teammates, however, as in a recent interview with The Athletic’s Michael Lee, he had some high praise for Embiid saying:
“Because that (expletive) is special. For real,” Butler said. “Any time I text him, which we text plenty, FaceTime, phone calls. I always tell him, ‘Continue to show why you’re the best player in this league.’ Because I saw it. I saw it. He can do everything. Like, legit, he can do everything. He works and I respect it. He works. And then he’s in the house. He’s with his girlfriend. That’s how you become the best player, you’ve got to be obsessed with it. And he is. He is.
“I think the bond just grew from there, because he would always ask questions. We’d always watch film together. And yeah, we’d be joking around a lot, too. But he wants to do right and when he does wrong and you tell him, he’ll be like, ‘Yeah, you’re right. You’re right.’ I was like, you know what, you’re a real (expletive). When somebody tells you you’re wrong, you’re like, ‘Yeah.’ And thinking about it, you’re like, ‘OK, OK, I see what you’re talking about.’ If somebody tells me I’m wrong, I’m like, you could be right, or maybe I could’ve handled that better. Like, ‘Yeah, you’re probably right.’ ”
Embiid is one of the premier players in the league regardless of position and he shows off his talent nightly for the Sixers. He’s averaging 22.9 points, 11.5 rebounds, and 3.1 assists in the early going for the 9-5 Sixers and he definitely still has a good relationship with Butler. During his brawl with Minnesota Timberwolves, Embiid dragged Butler into it with an Instagram comment and Butler knew he would be the one to drag him into it.
Regardless, Saturday figures to be an emotional game as Butler will probably hear a lot of boos from the Philadelphia faithful while Embiid has to battle against one of his close friends rather than by his side. [lawrence-related id=19794,19785,19777]