Miami Heat’s Jimmy Butler Has Gone the Opposite Direction of Joel Embiid This Postseason

There was a point in time when Jimmy Butler was a star on the Philadelphia 76ers. His transcendence into a superstar on the Miami Heat will always remind Sixers fans of that period.

Philadelphia was yet again eliminated in the second round of the playoffs after losing to the Boston Celtics Sunday afternoon. Joel Embiid went 5 of 18 from the field for just 15 points and four turnovers. Embiid received criticism for his performance, with some even saying his league MVP award should be retracted and given to Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic.

Embiid averaged 23.7 points in the postseason after scoring 33.1 a game during the regular season. The drop-off of 9.4 points is the largest by an MVP in NBA history.

Embiid was criticized even further for implying he needs more help outside of him and James Harden, even though they were a combined 8 of 29 for 24 points.

“I can’t win alone,” Embiid said. “Me and James, we just can’t win alone. That’s why basketball is played five on five. We just need everybody to just try to keep finding ways to get better and we’ll be fine.”

Joel Embiid said this after the series loss to the Celtics. pic.twitter.com/G98aZnHnFR
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) May 15, 2023

Meanwhile, Butler is heading to his third conference finals, continuing to re-define his career in Miami. Unlike Embiid, Butler does not boast a current Hall of Fame teammate and is without his third scoring option in Tyler Herro. Still, he is putting up supernatural performances to continue the Heat’s improbable playoff journey toward a potential fourth banner in South Florida.

The new standard in Miami is to win championships in spite of the subpar regular season. The expectations in Philadelphia were the same but are now ended on another short-term playoff run.

The Process is officially dead, but the Heat’s Finals chances are not. They head to Boston Wednesday night for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals.

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.