Philadelphia Owes Jimmy Butler an Apology

When Jimmy Butler departed from Philadelphia last summer in the sign and trade that sent Josh Richardson to Philly, there was a ton of outrage from 76ers fans, as expected. I’ll even admit that I was guilty of some hate as well. Sixers fans felt betrayed by the player they had come to know and love over those 9 months or so. Immediately, Butler was called out for leaving a “winning situation” for a Miami team that was not expected to be a contender. Many fans predicted them to not even make the playoffs, while I predicted a low seed and first-round exit. Now, Butler is one game away from heading to the NBA Finals, defeating the number one seed Milwaukee Bucks, and currently up 3-2 against the Celtics, who swept the Sixers in the first round. Miami not only finished as a higher seed than the Sixers in the regular season, but Jimmy Butler was an All Star and was named to All-NBA 3rd team. He averaged 19.9 points, career highs in rebounds and assists in 6.7 and 6.0, and 1.8 steals on 58.5 TS%. Meanwhile, the Sixers got a disappointing season (an understatement) from Al Horford. Brett Brown, who is suspected to be a big reason for Butler’s departure, was just fired. Although the Heat got surprise seasons from Tyler Herro, Bam Adebayo, and Duncan Robinson, Butler arguably had a better season than any Sixers player. His clutch ability and jump shooting was a problem in the regular season, but it has come back in the playoffs. Now to the main point of the article, Sixers fans owe Jimmy an apology. Many wanted him back, including me, but as soon as he left, Sixers fans called him out and claimed that paying him would’ve been a bad move. They were clearly wrong, and the Sixers’ front office and ownership are at fault. For whatever reason, they believed that not giving Jimmy the 5th year and keeping Brett were both more important than running it back, which was a very possible scenario. Butler chose what he believed was the best place for him to win and live with his family, as he recently had a child. He didn’t owe anything to Philadelphia, and when they chose not to reward him for being the best player during the playoff run that ended in a buzzer-beating loss to the NBA champions, he made his decision. Getting rid of him is the biggest mistake that arguably any Philly sports team has made in recent memory, or even of all time. Good luck Jimmy, and go Heat.

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