Inside The Heat

Udonis Haslem On Jimmy Butler To Philadelphia 76ers Speculation: "I Will Be Calling Jimmy"

Shandel Richardson

Michael Laughlin-USA TODAY Sports

There has been speculation about Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler returning to the Philadelphia 76ers for weeks.

On Thursday, ESPN's Alan Hahn just added more fuel to the fire while appearing on a segment of "Get Up." Hahn cited recent comments from Heat team president Pat Riley and Sixers owner Daryl Morey wanting to atone for losing Butler in the summer of 2019.


"Jimmy Butler's days in Miami are over," Hahn said. "You heard Pat Riley talk and Pat Riley said something that caught everybody's attention about Jimmy Butler. And one other thing: It's not just that. It's also Daryl Morey is laying in the weeds. You remember the mistake that the Sixers made. Daryl Morey might want to fix that mistake and bring Jimmy Butler back to Philly and put together a band that should've been together years ago."

Riley created a storm when he was somewhat critical of Butler after the season. Riley was upset at Butler for talking trash about the New York Knicks and Boston Celtics, who were both still in the playoffs. And Morey may just want to reunite Butler with Joel Embiid. When they were teammates, they were a Kawhi Leonard made jumpshot from making the Eastern Conference finals in 2019.

Also appearing on the show was Heat icon Udonis Haslem. He is still part of the organization as the vice president of player development, so is unable to comment on free agency because of tampering issues.

He did say his immediate plans after the show.

"I can't really comment on that," Haslem said. "If I had to guess ... I don't want to talk about it. I'm just going to leave that one alone ... But I will be calling Jimmy after the show. That's all that I'm saying."

Shandel Richardson is the publisher of Inside The Heat. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com

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Shandel Richardson

SHANDEL RICHARDSON

Shandel has covered the NBA since 2010, with previous stops at The Athletic and South Florida Sun-Sentinel.  He has covered six NBA Finals, one Super Bowl, the NCAA basketball tournament. He has also been a beat writer for the Miami Hurricanes and contributed on every major beat in South Florida since 2003, including the Miami Dolphins and Miami Marlins. He can also be read in the Sportsbook Review for gambling coverage from around the NBA. A native of Bloomington, Illinois, Shandel attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. He's also worked for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Kansas City Star.  TWITTER: @ShandelRich EMAIL: shandelrich@gmail.com You can subscribe to our YouTube channel here Follow all of our Miami Heat coverage on Facebook here