Jimmy Butler is already doing a lot more to gel with the Sixers than he did with the Timberwolves. Butler and Sixers point guard Ben Simmons have been sporting matching headbands, notably during their 123-98 blowout win over the Wizards on Friday. This is more than a fashion statement: Head coach Brett Brown said it's a symbol of their bond while Butler works with the Australian player on his defense.
"They are defensive brothers. They are blood brothers. That band to me signifies a bonding, a defensive bonding," Brown said in a press conference on Friday. "I've asked Jimmy to put Ben under his wing and really help Ben be all he can be defensively."
In spite of the internet having fun with imagined beef between Sixers players, the Philadelphia locker room is seemingly getting along with their latest addition. His animosity against his former team in Minnesota has been mainly passive since the trade.
"Unless everybody in my past locker room was just that fake, I don't think I was that big of a problem at all," he said, when asked about his old team at an introductory press conference. "I think that I'm an incredible human being, teammate, and I'll show that to the guys that are here."