ESPN reported that Jimmy Butler challenged Sixers coach Brett Brown over the team's offense, much to the shock of zero people in Minneapolis. As we wrote at the time:
[I]nsiders say Butler "aggressively challenged" Brown about his role in the offense, where Butler would prefer to play in a more pick-and-roll and iso-heavy offense, rather than the free-flowing one Brown believes fits best. A recent film session in Portland was described by witnesses as "disrespectful" and beyond the normal relationship between a player and coach.
On Monday, the four-time All-Star downplayed that report (in fairness, so too has Brown) by stating that what had actually happened was simply a typical interaction between an NBA player and his coach, and that the only reason it was a big deal is because it was conducted in full view of the team.
"I don't think any part of it was confrontational, just a coach to player talk, a player to coach talk," Butler said, according to Sixers reporter Serena Winters. "It just happened to be in front of everybody. I think we got away from it great, and we got better as a team":
This is how it starts (or in this case continues). We will update this post should there be a reason to do so.
