In this episode of The JJ Redick Podcast, Jimmy Butler opens up about his tumultuous final season with the Philadelphia 76ers. He describes a chaotic summer and preseason where he felt lost, unsure who was in charge, and overwhelmed by conflicting voices within the organization. Butler recounts a pivotal, unproductive meeting with coach Brett Brown, assistant coach Joe, and teammate Ben before the Tobias Harris trade, highlighting the lack of clear direction. He delves into the infamous film‑session incident in Portland, where he confronted teammate TJ McConnell about wanting more pick‑and‑rolls, clarifying that he never named McConnell publicly and emphasizing his willingness to speak his mind. Butler reflects on his strained yet professional relationship with Brett Brown, noting frustration over the team's offensive scheme that kept Ben Simmons as primary ball‑handler all season, only to shift to Butler in the playoffs. He shares his thoughts during Kawhi Leonard’s series‑winning shot, expressing awe and immediate concern about his future with the Sixers. Butler reveals that an exit meeting with front‑office executive Elton indicated the organization did not plan to bring him back, confirming his belief that his tenure was ending. He addresses rumors about being “hard to work with” and the narrative that teams wondered if they could control him, rejecting the notion and asserting his independence. Finally, Butler explains his early free‑agency considerations, describing how family discussions and the culture of Miami appealed to him, leading to his decision to sign with the Heat.
Chapters
Was last year difficult for you?
Yeah.
Not just getting traded, but the whole shit in the summer, preseason. Yeah.
Hell yeah, it was difficult, man. It was so different. And on any given day, me as a person, as a player, I didn't know who the fuck was in charge. I think that was my biggest thing. I didn't know what the fuck to expect whenever I would go into the gym, whenever I go into the plane, whenever I go into the game. I was like, man, I, I would think I was as lost as the next motherfucker.
Meaning there was just— There was a lot of voices.
Yeah.
And a lot of input from a lot of different places.
And just so much going on on any given day. I was like, yep, I guess I'm just here to work. I didn't even know who to talk to.
At what point did you like realize that? At what point did—
At that fucking meeting in the office that I told you that. I told you that. I was like, I cannot believe.
Wait, when he brought, when Brett brought, so Brett brings me, you, Joe and Ben. This is pre-Tobias trade.
Yeah.
Was this before or after the, like obviously I'll tell my side of the story about what happened in Portland with you in the meeting that got reported. This is before or after that? I don't remember. It was before.
It was before.
Before we went on that West Coast trip then.
Yeah, okay. It was before. And we all sitting in there, And nothing got accomplished at all. So I was like, and I told you this as we walked out, JJ, why would I ever go back in there again? Like nothing's getting accomplished. Nobody's saying nothing to anybody. And we just sitting in here watching film and you can literally hear the thing just clicking. And we all just looking around. [LAUGHTER] But you gotta think, now I'm just like, what, I may have been 2, 3 weeks there tops.
Yeah, it was the first month.
Yeah, easily. So you know what? I'm sent back and I'm watching. I ain't saying nothing 'cause don't nobody know me like that. When I first got to Philly, what did you think of me?
I didn't know.
But if you go by what you read, what do you think of me?
Oh yeah.
Yeah, right?
Yeah.
So I'm sitting back, I'm relaxed. I'm like, these motherfuckers think I'm an asshole anyways. Let me be quiet. So I'm sitting back, I'm hearing it. Click, click, looking around. Click, click. All right guys, let's go practice. Why did we just go through this? That's literally what was going on in my head. So I come to you. I said, JJ, why would I go back in there again? We didn't do nothing. Nothing got accomplished. So now we fast forward to however many weeks is over there and we in Portland. And then that happens during the film session. What do you make of all this? You know, I hope it's not true, but Jimmy Butler, as we know, has been carrying a little bit of a track record in terms of dealing with coaches, so. Because once again, wasn't nobody saying nothing. So who was the individual that decided to finally say something?
Here's the fucked up part. You did one thing wrong.
What did I do?
Nothing you said about the team. Was wrong. I thought your interaction with Brett that day was like a normal interaction. I don't know why it got reported the way it did.
'Cause it was me.
Yeah, because you were coming off whatever happened in Chicago, whatever happened in Minnesota. Yeah, I get it. But nothing was weird. But so he's like, basically he's like, there's some tweaks to the offense. I think some other guys on the team feel the same way. And who did he throw under the bus?
I didn't throw him under the bus.
You threw the nicest guy. You threw TJ McConnell under the bus. I did not throw him under the bus.
I did not say his name. I did not say his name.
Jimmy goes, "TJ wants more pick and rolls." I did not say that.
I did not say that. This is what I did, okay? I did not say TJ. He said, "Who else feels the type of way about it?" Now keep in mind, everybody comes to talk to me 'cause they know I'm not afraid to be the asshole. So obviously I talked to him. Brett asked a great question. Who else feels the type of way about something? All I did, I didn't hear nothing behind me. I just knew somebody was gonna speak up 'cause I had talked to about 5 people. Crickets. So I turned around and the first person I just happened to lock eyes with was TJ. So Monty goes, "Yo, nah, for real, now's the time." TJ was like, "Well, you know." I was like, "TJ, man, if you don't say what you gotta say." And I love TJ. I talk to TJ all the time. Okay. But I just felt like, like, it's okay to, to speak your mind. Ain't nothing wrong with it. The worst thing that Brett could have said was, "Fuck you, no." And then you just go back to just being quiet. But at least you get to say what you got to say.
You know how I feel about Brett. I know, like, I like, I love Brett and all that. And I, I know your relationship wasn't the same, but—
Sure was not.
Towards the end of the year though, as we sort of we did sort of tweak how the offense was run, especially in the playoffs where you were playing on the ball more. Did that relationship evolve at all? Or was it strictly a professional relationship?
I would say it was professional, but to this day, I don't think that that was fair to switch over like that. Even though I think we played great basketball like that, I don't think it was fair because the entire year, Ben had the ball. The entire year Ben had the ball. So you mean to tell me that in one playoff series, you just switch it up like that? I would be like he was. I would feel a type of way. I would feel a type of way. I would think that it's fucked up to play one way the entire year and then be like, you know what? Boom. This is how we're gonna do it. And I used to tell Brad, I was like, Brad, I think we should mix in me handling the ball a little bit. Nah, we do A to B, we do this. Cool.
Yeah.
Cool. But I would be pissed and I didn't, I mean, I'm not gonna complain about it, but I don't think that that was the best way of doing it in my opinion.
When that Kawhi shot went in.
Yeah.
What was going through your head?
What was going through my head? A lot. A lot was going through my head, man. I already knew how I believe it would've worked out if that shot wouldn't have went in and we go into overtime and we win. So the shot goes in, we go back to the locker room. I'm in awe a little bit. And then after like everything settles down, the first thing that comes to my mind legit is, will I be back here? Yeah. Will I have an opportunity to do this again with these guys? And to tell you the truth, I had a feeling that it would be a no. I had a feeling that it would be a no. But I would say that that's the first thing that ran through my head was, yo, are we actually gonna be able to run this back? And if I'm being honest, I was like, nah, it's not finna happen. Yeah.
That was my first thought too.
Yeah.
Was like, well, not my first thought. There's the disappointment, there's the tears, there's the hug your teammates. But then like, it's like the realization, like, shit, I might not get this close again, right? You think that. I knew I wasn't coming back when I had my exit meeting with Elton. And he didn't say that to me. Like, we don't want you back. I just knew like they were gonna, I was only gonna go back there if they had no other options basically. I really, that's how, I mean, that was the vibe I got in that meeting. So I kind of knew, I kind of knew. When did you know? Oh shit.
I knew I wasn't going back at one point in time. Now before I say this sentence, do you think I'm like just that hard to work with? Am I hard to work with?
Is this the phone call after free agency? Is this from the phone call? Is this what you're talking about?
No, no, no. This is before the phone call. No, I don't think you're hard to work with.
Right?
No, I'm not hard to work with. So I ain't throwing nobody under the bus since you think that I seem to throw people under the bus. Somebody told me that a main reason that I didn't go back was because somebody asked, "Can you control him?" Like, can you control Jimmy? If you can control Jimmy, we would think about having him back. I was like, you don't gotta worry about it. Shit, can't nobody fucking control me. For one, I ain't just out there doing no bullshit. But the fact that you trying to control a grown man? Nah, I'm cool. 'Cause I don't do nothing that's just drastically fucking stupidly crazy. I do not do that. So don't sit here and come at me with the—
Yeah.
'Oh, we gotta try to control him.' 'You good. Don't even worry about it.' And that was my—
what you call it?
You ain't gotta worry about me coming. I'm not— if that's what y'all worried about, if that's what y'all worried about, I think, man, good luck to y'all. If that's what y'all worried about.
At what point in free agency? I mean, was this—
Oh, this was, uh, this was early.
Yeah, early.
Yeah, super early.
Super early.
Super early.
And then at some point Jimmy Butler— So you kind of knew you'd start to have to exploring other things?
Shit, thought? I was knee deep in that already. Shit. Shit, already really knew what it was. Like when I heard about Miami, you know, we talked about it as a group, me and my family, me and my trainers and all of that stuff. It all, man, it all worked out. And then obviously when the meeting came around, We sitting in there and we talking, talking about the roster, man. Talking about obviously, all right, Sunshine, what everybody already knows, but the way that they just do shit. Yo, we work every single day. It's nothing drastic, but we do work. We expect you to come in here and help us win. We're not trying to lose. No, never.
Yeah.
Every single year, we're in it to win it now. We ain't worried about 3 years. We can't control that. And that's how I think. I think like, I don't know what the hell I'm going to do tomorrow. Yesterday's gone. But right now I'm going to be the best version of me that I can be. And that's how Miami does it. I don't know how every other team do it. I could tell you how Chicago does it, Minnesota does it, and Philly does it. But Miami's way different than all of those teams that I just named.
