Before joining the Miami Heat, Jimmy Butler spent a little under one season with the Philadelphia 76ers. He formed a trio there with Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons.
It seems like the relationship between Simmons and Butler wasn’t great. Butler’s presence in Philadelphia’s locker room apparently made Simmons “virtually” disappear.
“Simmons typically finished his pregame workout long before Butler and Embiid,” wrote Marcus Hayes of the Philadelphia Inquirer. “This put Simmons in the locker room without Butler and Embiid for several minutes. Simmons owned the room in their absence. He told the jokes. He did the teasing. He was the alpha dog.
“Then, in came Jimmy and Joel, and Simmons turned tail. Embiid commanded an entire wall of lockers to the right of the entry door. Everyone deferred to him, except Butler. The place got pretty quiet, and when anything was said, Butler usually said it. With Butler in the room, Simmons virtually disappeared.”
It’s certainly interesting to read about the dynamic between Butler and Simmons. During their time together on the 76ers, they helped the team make it to the second round of the 2019 NBA Playoffs before falling to the Toronto Raptors in heartbreaking fashion.
This season, Simmons has yet to appear in a game. He started off the campaign with the 76ers, but it became evident that he was never going to play for them. He was eventually traded to the Brooklyn Nets as part of the deal that brought James Harden to Philadelphia.
As for Butler, he recently competed in this season’s All-Star Game. The Heat veteran now has six All-Star selections to his name.
So far this season, he’s averaging 21.8 points, 6.4 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game while leading the Heat to a 38-21 record and the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. He’s hoping to lead the Heat, who have looked like title contenders to this point, back to the NBA Finals.
The Heat have two games left against the Nets in the regular season, so there’s certainly a possibility that Simmons and Butler will get a chance to face off in the near future.