Jimmy Butler rewrites history, claims the 76ers chose Tobias Harris over him
Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat took down the Philadelphia 76ers last night in Game 6 of the second round of the NBA playoffs. Following the game, Butler entered the tunnel back to the locker room and decided that he was going to rewrite history while claiming the 76ers chose Tobias Harris’ contract over his, resulting in him leaving Philly for South Beach.
Jimmy Butler on Tobias Harris
“Tobias Harris over me?”
Yeah, okay Jimmy. While I have always loved your attitude, this is completely false.
In 2019, Ben Simmons was not happy being put off ball during the 76ers-Raptors playoff series. That was obviously because he couldn’t play in a half court offense and refused to shoot the basketball, so him running point for the Sixers was really the only “comfortable” position for him. It was also the position that certified killer Jimmy Butler played, which caused a riff in the locker room.
The issue continued to grow and the 76ers organization was worried about how Ben Simmons, their first overall draft pick would react to Jimmy Butler handling playmaking duties on the 76ers moving forward.
Brett Brown and Jimmy Butler never got along and because of that, the 76ers organization was faced with another issue in choosing between Butler or basically, Brett Brown and Ben Simmons.
The Sixers moved forward after the Game 7 loss to the Raptors and decided to focus on bringing in a backup center (Al Horford) to assist Embiid and provide minutes defending Giannis come playoff time. Because of this, Butler was the odd man out and ended up in Miami.
That’s basically what happened, so why Butler is calling out Tobias Harris is beyond me but honestly who cares. When talking to the media post-game last night, Butler even stated he wished he was still playing with Joel Embiid, with Embiid basically saying the same thing as well.
Sure, hindsight is 20/20 but I have always been in the camp that the 76ers messed up letting him walk. Still, Philly was prepared to offer both Butler and Harris max contracts, so there was no choice between the two players.
Again, every report and Joel Embiid himself has stated that the 76ers were forced to choose between Butler and Ben Simmons, and they ended up picking Simmons.
I’m sure it was Butler just saying something in the heat of the moment but we can’t be rewriting history here, Jimmy. Meanwhile, Sixers fans immediately attempted to criticize the front office for letting him walk, despite every person involved in that decision no longer being part of the organization.
Mandatory Credit: AP Photo
