Fans of the Chicago Bulls thought they saw the last of head coach Jim Boylen once the season got shut down. Well, it looks like they were wrong.
The old State Farm commercial comes to mind. The one where the elderly man dangles a dollar hanging from a fishing pole in front of a woman who gets reminded she had cheap insurance. That has to be how Chicago Bulls fans felt after seeing Adrian Wojnarowski tweet that the NBA is discussing a second “bubble” to accommodate the eight teams not participating in Orlando, per Jackie MacMullan.
This new “bubble” will be located in Chicago and that really is appropriate because fans in the Windy City shouldn’t have to travel to be tortured.
“Tortured, you say?”
Yes. Having to suffer through any more games with Jim Boylen as head coach qualifies as nothing less. Okay, that is a bit melodramatic. But fans thought they had been spared from having to witness their team finish out the season rudderless. But ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, appearing on ESPN 1000 in Chicago, said that he believes Boylen will return.
His logic revolved around the Bulls new management of vice president Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley not wanting to pay two head coaches’ salaries. That had to strike fans to the nerve because it is very much in line with the Bulls regimes of old, and a departure from all that this off-season has stood for.
But Boylen already got $1 million of his $1.6 million deal. That shouldn’t be too much to overcome, even for a team that has been as frugal as the Bulls. If you need an example of their propensity for penny-pinching, look no further than their single-staffed training staff (since revamped).
More Boylen isn’t the only issue, though. As Taylor Rooks was quick to point out, what is the incentive? In Orlando, they’ll be playing for a championship. Even that hasn’t guaranteed participation. One of the issues broached by several players, including Donovan Mitchell, is the injury risk.
But players like Zach LaVine, Lauri Markkanen, and Wendell Carter have all had injury concerns. That’s 75 percent of your core. Is it really worth it to risk their health? The Chicago “bubble” isn’t set to begin until September. That means the layoff will have been for six months.
Some general managers have expressed a desire to get their young guys some work, but the Bulls are a young team.
There also some team officials in favor of having mini-training camps. That was a concern voiced by Karnisovas but the risk still doesn’t seem to match the reward which, as of now, seems to solely be not having players sit until December.
Ultimately, the money behind all of this is the deciding factor. As long as the players in the Chicago “bubble” are given the same options as those in Orlando, the Chicago plan will likely move forward.
One just hopes that no one suffers a serious injury towards the end of an essentially meaningless.
For Bulls fans the risks are many-fold. Not only will they worry about injuries, but if Boylen’s Bulls do well in the “bubble” it could get ugly for fans. Could he parlay that into at least finishing out his contract next year?
That brings us back to Windhorst’s statement. It’s just another log on the fire, but we keep hearing is different reasons he may stick around. From having the favor of Jerry Reinsdorf to the financial aspects (even though that is flimsy at best). Perhaps that’s because the reasons to let him go are so obvious.
At any rate, it appears that Bulls fans will have to watch Boylen coach their favorite team for a least a little while longer.