As if Jake Fischer’s Thursday Bulls coaching search update report that Bulls incumbent assistant coach Wes Unseld Jr. is expected to move forward as a finalist candidate for the Bulls head coach vacancy wasn’t problematic enough, Fischer also put a cherry on top of his Bulls report by mentioning Bulls Senior Advisor John Paxson has a role in the coaching interviews taking place to replace former Bulls head coach Billy Donovan.
The Fischer report instantly calls into question the degree to which the current Bulls executive vice president of basketball operations, Bryson Graham’s hiring decision on the next Bulls head coach will be influenced by the former Bulls front office head, Paxson’s input on the Bulls head coach candidates.
The Bulls' head coach topic was immediately thrust into awkwardness when Bulls President and Chief Executive Officer Michael Reinsdorf made strong declarations of long-term commitment to maintaining Billy Donovan as head coach in the wake of the firing of former Bulls executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and former Bulls general manager Marc Eversley.
Thankfully, Donovan saved the Bulls from further embarrassment by resigning from his Bulls post in April of 2026.
However, Paxson, being an active participant in the Bulls' head coach hiring process, is a risky proposition that may create more friction than momentum for both Graham and whoever he hires as his Bulls head coach.
John Paxson’s mixed bag with head coaches
Scott Skiles was the first head coach hired by the Paxson Bulls front office regime, and before the Bulls progressed to their second season with Skiles as head coach, reports emerged surrounding a contentious negotiation of Skiles contract extension with Bulls management, that seemingly resolved by Skiles speaking directly with Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf.
Skiles would infamously coach two more full seasons and 25 games into the 2007-08 NBA season, getting fired on Dec 24, 2007.
Skiles’ permanent replacement was first-time NBA head coach and former NBA guard Vinny Del Negro. Del Negro’s brief two-season tenure with the Bulls culminated with an alleged altercation between the coach and Paxson late in the 2009-10 NBA season that came from a dispute over a medical minutes restriction on then Bulls center Joakim Noah to address the starting center’s plantar fasciitis diagnosis.
Paxson’s most successful head coach hire and arguably one of the greatest Bulls head coaches in franchise history was Tom Thibodeau, who guided the Bulls to their highest level of success since the 1990s, a 62-20 Bulls team that appeared in the 2011 Eastern Conference Finals.
Despite that caliber of success, Thibodeau reportedly encountered his own organizational friction with Bulls management before being fired at the end of the 2014-15 NBA season. Paxson's swan song with Bulls head coaches ended with Fred Hoiberg and Jim Boylen's combined five seasons with one playoff appearance in the 2017 NBA playoffs.
Paxson should be permanently retired from any Chicago Bulls head coaching decisions.
Add us as a preferred source on Google