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Philadelphia 76ers forward Jimmy Butler dismissed rumors of a conflict between him and coach Brett Brown after a Friday report listed instances in which he “aggressively challenged” his coach about playing in pick-and-roll and isolation situations more often rather than finding his opportunities through his offensive system:
“I speak my mind like he speaks his, and everybody else does a great job of doing it too. I don't think any part of it is confrontational, it's just a player-to-coach talk,” said Butler. “I think he got away from it great and we got better as a team… I don't find any type of confrontation in that.”
Here’s Jimmy Butler talking about the infamous film session. pic.twitter.com/7UQLxbrr9c
— Rich Hofmann (@rich_hofmann) January 7, 2019
This is hardly the first time Butler's overly competitive nature has been confused for confrontational. Butler does approach teammates and coaches much differently than other players. That is part of his edge, and that edge can rub certain people the wrong way and seem like an unprofessional way to settle matters.
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The four-time All-Star insisted his relationship with Brown, as the latter also alluded, was no more than two people trying to understand each other:
“We've been talking damn near every day, trying to figure each other out, how we can make everybody work, not just for myself, but for everybody,” said Butler. “I'm telling you, it's a player-to-coach conversation, but I think that if you followed me long enough you'd know if I was being confrontational, because I don't think I can hide it very well. We're talking, we're trying to win games, trying to make sure everybody is happy. Confrontation? That's not the word I'd use.”
It's also worthy to note that Butler's numbers have taken a considerable dip since joining the Sixers, who have see-sawed Butler's usage since teammate Joel Embiid also complained about his role within the team after being temporarily stripped of his go-to role upon trading for Butler.
It will be a balancing act for Brown moving forward, hoping to keep Embiid content while making Butler happy enough to want to re-sign with the team in the offseason.
