Watching Jimmy Butler, yet again, lead the Miami Heat (as an EIGHT seed!) to a 1-0 Eastern Conference Finals lead over the Boston Celtics is painful for Philadelphia 76ers fans.
And every time Butler goes off in a playoff game, Sixers Twitter lights up with gifs, videos, and images of Butler's time in Philadelphia and "what could have been."
Well, 94WIP's Jack Fritz—and a few others—are starting to get annoyed with it.
94WIP's Ike Reese agrees.
Butler, now 33, was of course sent to the Miami Heat (via a sign and trade with the 76ers) in July of 2019 by then Sixers GM Elton Brand. The Sixers essentially "chose" Ben Simmons, who was—as noted by Fritz in his aforementioned Tweet—a 22-year-old ascending All-Star at the time, to run the offense.
We all know the Simmons story, as he decided to stop trying to score and become useless on offense, eventually forcing his way out. Butler went on to dominate in seemingly every postseason since, earning himself the nickname "Playoff Jimmy."
I agree with Fritz, however. While it's certainly painful, and the frustration by fans is understandable, the decision to go with Simmons over Butler was a rather easy one at the time, one which most of the fan base was on board with.
Other decisions like trading up for Markelle Fultz and drafting him over Jayson Tatum, drafting Jahlil Okafor, and drafting and trading Mikal Bridges have derailed The Process equally, if not more so.
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