3. All of the Zach LaVine drama
This part of the list definitely goes to more than one occurrence where there was seemingly some friction between Boylen and the rising star 25-year-old shooting guard Zach LaVine. And not all of the drama between Boylen and LaVine was on-the-court.
One of the worst points of the season that was for the Bulls was when LaVine had more than 40 points in a game back in February and Boylen put him on the bench. There was clear evidence of LaVine yelling at Boylen about the move, and it was definitely a sign of things to come.
At one point, the Bulls even had to come up with a story that LaVine paid a fine for Boylen to try and cover up any friction that existed between that player-coach relationship. LaVine definitely wasn’t the right fit for Boylen since he’s a high usage player that wasn’t the best on defense. He wasn’t naive enough to just give into everything that Boylen preached either.
And that is largely a good thing.
LaVine also tended to have some comments about Boylen that the head coach probably didn’t like. The constant hinting that the locker room wasn’t happy with Boylen’s standing as head coach likely was a thought that LaVine shared. Boylen wasn’t the worst for his development, but he likely didn’t do much to help the supporting cast around him either.