The divorce between Jimmy Butler and the Philadelphia 76ers continues to be mesmerizing. It has come down to a “he said, she said” kind of situation and nobody really knows what went down.
As Butler left to join the Miami Heat in free agency, everybody assumed he had an issue with either Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid, or coach Brett Brown. The thing is, nobody truly knows and Butler will not reveal anything as he even gave a really vague reason for why he left Philadelphia in the first place.
Butler then recently opened up again with Sports Illustrated saying that he has no issues or qualms with either Simmons or Embiid:
“I didn’t have a problem with either one of them,” he says. “Still talk to those dudes. I wish them the absolute best. A career of great health, make as much money as you can, win as many championships as you can. I did not have a problem with any of those guys. It just didn’t work the way that we wanted it to work. That’s life. Not everything pans out the way you want it to pan out. But you learn and you move on from it.”
Butler and Embiid have kept a tight friendship despite him leaving for Miami and Simmons even acknowledged Butler over the All-Star break praising his work with the Heat and possibly meeting up in the playoffs. So it does not appear that these guys hate each other for any reason.
Again, nobody truly knows what went down in Philadelphia and why Butler did leave, but it’s little tidbits like this one that suggests it was not really a friction thing between players. Maybe, he did just want to go to Miami where he has the Heat as the 4 seed in the East. [lawrence-related id=26782,26768,26762]