Jimmy Butler gave former teammate Joel Embiid some praise of the highest order, not only calling him the best player in the league but also attesting to his talent level and dedication to be recognized as just that.

The now-Miami Heat star jelled with the Philadelphia 76ers talisman in ways he hasn't meshed with other young players like Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins. Why you ask? Butler will say it himself:

“Because that muthaf***a is special. For real,” Butler told Michael Lee of The Athletic. “Any time I text him, which we text plenty, FaceTime, phone calls. I always tell him, ‘Continue to show why you’re the best player in this league.’ Because I saw it. I saw it. He can do everything. Like, legit, he can do everything. He works and I respect it. He works. And then he’s in the house. He’s with his girlfriend. That’s how you become the best player, you’ve got to be obsessed with it. And he is. He is.”

Butler is among the hardest-working stars in the game, perhaps even going over the top by being not only the first player on the practice floor but beating his peers by hours, as he showed earlier this season.

To gain Butler's respect is hard enough. To get praise to come out of his lips is a completely different ballpark of appreciation, and it seems the two have got that for each other. Butler and Embiid grew a special bond during their time together in Philly, watching film all the time and engaging in plenty of friendly banter as they worked to improve their games:

“I think the bond just grew from there, because he would always ask questions,” said Butler. “We’d always watch film together. And yeah, we’d be joking around a lot, too. But he wants to do right and when he does wrong and you tell him, he’ll be like, ‘Yeah, you’re right. You’re right.’ I was like, you know what, you’re a real muthaf***a. When somebody tells you you’re wrong, you’re like, ‘Yeah.’ And thinking about it, you’re like, ‘OK, OK, I see what you’re talking about.’ If somebody tells me I’m wrong, I’m like, you could be right, or maybe I could’ve handled that better. Like, ‘Yeah, you’re probably right.’”

It seems the 7-footer has earned much more than Butler's respect but also the start of a real friendship, despite only spending not even a full season together before they parted ways.

While things didn't work out for Butler in Philly, he's now enjoying an excellent start on his new team in Miami, while Embiid and the Sixers are again a top contender in the Eastern Conference.