“Love That Man to Death”: Jimmy Butler Expresses Admiration For Former 76ers Teammate

The Miami Heat upset the Milwaukee Bucks to take away Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Leading the Heat with a spectacular 40 point game was Jimmy Butler. Following an underwhelming regular season, he has come to party in the playoffs.

Butler’s former teammate from the 76ers, Joel Embiid, tweeted “Jimmy Butler #TooGood” after being left impressed with this display. He had a cryptic tweet later saying, “IF…”, hinting about what could have been had Butler stayed in Philly.

Later Butler spoke to The Athletic when he was asked if he came across these tweets. “That’s my guy,” Butler said. “Outside of basketball, I love that man to death. He knows that. I tell him every opportunity I get, and I appreciate him for making me a better player, a better leader, better at understanding so many different things.”

Jimmy Butler admits he won’t leave Miami

The Heat superstar then spoke about how he wishes they were still playing together. But not at the cost of his current Heat teammates, who he doesn’t want to leave.

He said, “I talk to him all the time, and I tell him, ‘I wish you were still in the playoffs because you deserve a championship.’ Because he works. He works at it, and that’s just my guy. I know that he still wanted me to be on his team. And I still wanted to be teammates with him. Let’s not get that misunderstood. But here, with these guys, I’m not trading that for the world either.”

Embiid and the 76ers had the worst possible playoff run. Missing one of their best players in Ben Simmons, they were a weakened side. The Celtics showed no mercy as they swept the 76ers to send them home early.

The 76ers miss the leadership and the clutch buckets Butler provided. They struggled in the regular season without him and the postseason just proved how big of a hole Butler left in the team.

With the Heat, he is enjoying a great postseason campaign so far. They swept the Pacers in the first round and have started strongly in the Semifinals. The 76ers’ loss was the Heat’s gain and now in the upcoming seasons, the Heat will enjoy Butler’s leadership and hope he can take them all the way to a championship.