Inside The Heat

Miami Heat’s Jimmy Butler Takes Shot at Tobias Harris

Butler recalls the Sixers choosing Harris over him in 2019.

Jayden Armant

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After the Miami Heat clinched a trip to the Eastern Conference finals by defeating the Philadelphia 76ers, Jimmy Butler was seen throwing shade at his former teammate Tobias Harris.

“Tobias Harris over me?” Butler said while going to the locker room.

Butler was a member of the Sixers in 2019, establishing himself as one of the team’s star players. In the 2019 playoffs, Butler averaged 19.4 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 5.2 assists. Despite his success with Philadelphia, Butler was traded to the Heat the following season in a four-team deal with the Portland Trail Blazers and Los Angeles Clippers. The Sixers kept Harris, signing him to a five-year, $180 million contract. This seemed to stick with Butler, who brought it back up after eliminating the Sixers.

Butler’s displeasure with the Sixers may have been misdirected, as the organization’s decision was more about Ben Simmons than Harris. Still, Butler was clearly upset that the Sixers let him go. Sixers star Joel Embiid even questioned the front office’s decision to not bring Butler back to the team.

“I won’t sit here and say I didn’t wish he was my teammate,” Embiid said. “I still don’t know how we let him go. I wish I could’ve gone to battle with him still, but it is what it is. Just gotta keep building and keep trying to reach that goal.”

Meanwhile, Butler will have the chance to make the NBA Finals for the second time in his career, while the Sixers will fail to make it past the second round once again. It is the Heat’s second trip in three years, and fourth trip in the last decade. Miami has advanced to the NBA Finals in their past six Conference Finals appearances.

Jayden Armant is a contributor to Inside The Heat. He is a student at Howard University. He can be reached at jayden.armant@bison.howard.edu or follow him on Twitter @jaydenarmant.

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Jayden Armant
JAYDEN ARMANT

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