Joel Embiid and Jimmy Butler didn't hold back their yearning for one another at the conclusion of the Philadelphia 76ers-Miami Heat series.

Jimmy Butler used his postgame interview right after the buzzer sounded to say how much love he had for Embiid and the Sixers. He was even heard shading the Sixers for giving him up back in 2019 to instead lock in Tobias Harris.

Embiid, meanwhile, was vocal about wishing they were still teammates and wondering how on earth the Sixers let Jimmy Butler go.

“I won’t sit here and say I didn’t wish he was my teammate. Still don’t know how we let him go. I wish I could have gone to battle with him still,” said the Sixers star on Jimmy Buckets.

The two were seen sharing an emotional moment after the conclusion of Game 6.

But according to Sixers reporter Yaron Weitzman, there was never any outright demand from Joel Embiid for the team to keep Jimmy Butler, as part of a longer thread on Butler's eventual departure from Philadelphia.

In terms of Embiid: he’s said multiple times that letting Butler go was a mistake. But my understanding is that at the time he was not insisting the team bring Butler back. This wasn’t an example of him demanding something and the front office ignoring it.

While the yearning is definitely real, part of it might also be hindsight at work. Jimmy Butler went on to make the NBA Finals the following season and is currently on an absolute tear, looking like the missing co-star and postseason performer Joel Embiid sorely needs.

It's like your ex-girlfriend that got incredibly hot after your breakup. You tell your friends that you never really wanted to break up with her and constantly think about getting back together. Jimmy Butler is now a smokeshow that Sixers fans can't help but regret passing on.