Jimmy Butler isn’t one to shy away from controversy. The Miami Heat swingman received plenty of attention after blooming into a star in Chicago, went scorched earth on the way out of Minnesota, and performed in the “alpha” offensive role at times with the Philadelphia 76ers last season. Ultimately, he took his talents to South Beach to act as the lead man for the Heat but, this week, Butler was launched into a controversy that he actually didn’t create.
Joel Embiid and Karl-Anthony Towns both earned two-game suspensions for an on-court fracas and, in prime 2019 fashion, things spilled over into social media. Because the two All-Star big men are both former teammates of Butler, it makes some sense that Butler would be at least a tangential part of the story and, on cue, he joined the fray.
Jimmy Butler has logged on: pic.twitter.com/QiqzGw9M0S
— Dime (@DimeUPROXX) October 31, 2019
Apparently, Butler saw the whole thing coming and predicted that it would be Embiid who would invoke his name.
Jimmy Butler on being mentioned in Kat-Embiid fight "I like it though, I'm one for do what you gotta do….Joe is my guy I knew he would be the one to throw me into it" pic.twitter.com/5cREBttvO7
— Gifdsports (@gifdsports) October 31, 2019
There were plenty of rumblings that Towns and Butler didn’t see eye-to-eye in Minnesota and, in the absence of those reports for Philadelphia, it wouldn’t be a stretch to believe that Butler would be in Embiid’s corner here. It is also noteworthy that Butler couldn’t help but smile from ear-to-ear when prompted by TNT in advance of Miami’s tilt against Atlanta on Thursday evening, and it is clear that Butler actively enjoys this kind of thing.
In the end, Butler wasn’t a centerpiece of the action but, well, he was involved and seemed comfortable with it.
