Jimmy Butler may be plying his trade down in South Beach, but that’s not stopping him from taking shots at his former team.
The star guard went in on Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brent Brown on another former Sixer, JJ Redick’s podcast on Wednesday.
In it, he described the dysfunction and lack of leadership that came down from the coach during his lone season in Philadelphia last year.
“I didn’t know who the f—k was in charge,” Butler said. “I didn’t know what the f—k to expect whenever I would go into the gym… I was like: ‘Man.’ I think I was as lost as the next motherf—ker.”
That lack of organization took its toll.
“I was like, ‘yup, I guess I’m just gonna work.’ I didn’t even know who to talk to,” he added.
Butler played just 55 games with the 76ers last season after he was acquired from the Minnesota Timberwolves.
He averaged 18.2 points and four assists per game during that time, helping the Sixers advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals where they lost to the eventual NBA-champion Toronto Raptors.
In the earlier portions of his stay in Philadelphia, Butler’s relationship with Brown reportedly frayed and came to a head when he called out the coach about his role in the offense during a film session in January of 2019 while in Portland.
Butler finally provided some insight into the situation.
“It was before [Portland], and we’re all sitting in there, and nothing got accomplished at all. And I told you this as we walked out. I was like ‘JJ, why would I ever go back in there again?’ Nothing is getting accomplished. Nobody is saying nothing to anybody. We’re just sitting in here watching film and you can literally hear the thing just clicking. We’re all just looking around. You gotta think, I may have been there two or three weeks top.
So I sit back and I’m watching, I’m not saying anything. If you go by what you read, what do you think of me? If you go by what you read? So I’m sitting back and relaxing and I’m thinking ‘these motherf—s are gonna think I’m an a—hole anyway,’ let me be quiet. So I’m sitting back and hearing click, click — looking around — click click. Alright, let’s go practice. Why did we sit through this? That’s literally what’s going on in my head… We fast forward to however many weeks in Portland and then that happens during a film session because once again, ain’t nobody saying nothing. So who was the individual who decided to finally say something?”
That soured the relationship to the point where Butler recalled the relationship was “professional,” and nothing more.
He was dealt to the Miami Heat in a four-team deal over the summer where he is posting 20.2 points per game. More importantly, his side owns the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference while the struggling Sixers are stuck in sixth.
