Jimmy Butler, Miami Heat, Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers. (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)
As Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers’ season ends yet again, one of their former players Jimmy Butler and his Miami Heat are moving on to the Eastern Conference Finals.
After beating the Philadelphia 76ers to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals, Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler told Joel Embiid that “he loves him and he is proud of him”.
Butler and Embiid were briefly teammates in Philadelphia. Ultimately, the 76ers brass did what it always seems to do best and make the wrong decision. The previous front office regime decided to keep Tobias Harris and Ben Simmons over Butler three summers ago. Butler has led the Heat to the conference finals twice now. Harris has not been the same since. And then there is Simmons…
It may not be football season just yet but expect all of Philadelphia to be battery-throwing mad after hearing what Butler had to say about his former team and teammate.
Philadelphia 76ers fans are reminded they could still have Jimmy Butler
“The Process” has been over for two years now, ever since the Atlanta Hawks eliminated the 76ers two postseasons ago in the same Eastern Conference Semifinals. While Simmons never played another game for them, or any team for that matter, 76ers fans have to wonder if this team has hit its definite ceiling with Embiid and James Harden as stars, as well as with Doc Rivers.
Butler always played with tremendous grit, ever since his days at Marquette collegiately and with the Chicago Bulls. He had that mental toughness and that dog inside of him that would have made him a fan favorite in Philadelphia for years. Instead, the front office decided to roll with an overpaid No. 3 option out on the wing in Harris and a completely unreliable player in Simmons.
This is Embiid’s team now with Harden and Tyrese Maxey backing him up. However, one has to wonder if the 76ers built around Embiid and Butler would have been good enough to push Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks in this current iteration of the Eastern Conference. Miami might be, as they will face either the Bucks or the Boston Celtics in the subsequent round.
A complete teardown to the studs and one playoff failure after another has to be getting so old.