Butler Not Happy Tucker Left Miami To Join Embiid And The Sixers originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
PJ Tucker is officially a Sixer and not everyone is thrilled about it.
As the NBA moratorium ends on Wednesday afternoon, sixers announced their signing of Tucker and Daniel House Jr.
Tucker thanked Heat fans on Instagram and Jimmy Butler appeared amusing in the comments.
Butler and Embiid have a well-documented friendship. When he heard Butler said he wished he was still Embiid’s teammate in the second round of the playoffs to the Heat after the Sixers lost, the five-time All-Star big man acknowledged that he felt the same.
“Obviously that’s my husband,” Embiid said. “That’s my brother. It’s tough, but I’m so proud of him. He’s playing at an unreal level right now. He’s something different right now, and I’m proud of him because he’s at this level and wearing them, and what he has been able to do…. They have a great team, great guys in general, and of course great coaching and a great front office so kudos to them.
“Like I said, I’m happy for him. I’m not going to sit here and say I didn’t want him to be my teammate. I still don’t know how we let him go. I wish I could still hang out with him I could have struggled, but it is what it is. I just have to keep building and keep trying to reach that goal.”
Unsurprisingly, Daryl Morey, the Sixers’ president of basketball operations, gave a glowing recap of Tucker’s game in the Sixers’ press release Wednesday.
“PJ Tucker is one of the most respected and ruthless competitors in our game and is the type of competitor that our fans will love and embrace,” said Morey. “We are thrilled to bring PJ’s leadership, tenacity, defensive versatility and championship pedigree to bring Philadelphia to an NBA title and his work ethic and mindset make him an important addition to our team and our city.”
As for House, he will have a uniform number last worn by someone who is now far from a fan favorite in Philadelphia.
In 2021, House told KPRC’s Ari Alexander that number 4 is important to him because his grandmother and family are from the Freedmen’s Town area in Houstonthe fourth division. House said the song “gives me the strength to be myself.”
Home wore No. 25 with Utah last season. The Jazz stopped Adrian Dantley’s number 4 in 2007. That song too is not on the table in Philadelphia because of Dolph Schayes.
So House chose to stick with No. 25, which of course used to belong to Ben Simmons.