The Chicago Bulls are on their second coach of the season and just lost a game by 56 points on Saturday. It was a bad enough performance that new coach Jim Boylen called a Sunday practice that some players reportedly wanted to not show up at.
Tensions were eased over the course of a two-hour long meeting and things are apparently calming down in Chicago, but not without Boylen and some Bulls players having to explain exactly what’s going on with a team that was never healthy to start the season and saw a coach leave just as things were starting to get better.
Bulls beat writer K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune reported on Monday that Boylen passionately defended himself and his wanting to hold heavy practices to get the Bulls out of their current funk. In fact, Boylen called it a “blessing” because it will help the team trust him in the long run.
Jim Boylen: “Yesterday was a blessing for where we have to go.”
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) December 10, 2018
Boylen: “My job is to push players out of their comfort zone. That’s what the Reinsdorfs are paying me for.”
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) December 10, 2018
One key point of contention for Boylen is that the Bulls collectively tried to boycott practice. He claims it was a small minority of players that were upset.
Boylen: "That is not true that 'they' didn't want to have practice. 'They' means everybody. That is not true. I don't like that narrative. The truth is we had a couple guys who thought a Sunday practice was excessive after the week we had. They have to trust me " (cont.)
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) December 10, 2018
As Johnson points out, Boylen is doing this because he feels the organization is behind him. And it’s telling that there isn’t an interim coaching tag on his title. This is his team now, and he’s going to coach it the way he thinks is best. And he says players need to realize he’s and going to take care of them and make sure they’re not getting worn out.
Boylen: "That is not true that 'they' didn't want to have practice. 'They' means everybody. That is not true. I don't like that narrative. The truth is we had a couple guys who thought a Sunday practice was excessive after the week we had. They have to trust me " (cont.)
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) December 10, 2018
"They have to trust me that if I bring them in to practice, I'm going to manage their legs. They didn't understand that. So I explained to them that you have to trust me that I'm going to do what's best for this team. What was best was coming in, being together and growing."
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) December 10, 2018
Right now, though, that trust definitely isn’t there. According to Yahoo’s Vincent Goodwill, some players took their complaints about Boylen’s practice habits to the Players’ Association. Others, like Robin Lopez, are wondering if Fred Hoiberg wasn’t given enough time with the Bulls (when healthy) to turn things around.
Whether that will actually gain the team’s trust is unclear right now, though. At the moment, it seems like no one trusts anyone in Chicago.
