It’s been just eight days since Fred Hoiberg got canned, opening up the Bulls head coach vacancy that was then filled by Jim Boylen. The speed with which the shit has leapt towards the fan strains credulity. But since the Bulls found themselves stuck under the thumb of this retrograde strongman, they have: suffered a 56-point public execution as Boylen refused to play their best players, heard their play called “embarrassing” by Boylen himself, run humiliating punitive drills during a brutal three-games-in-four-nights stretch, plotted a players’ mutiny, cooled off on the idea of a mutiny, lost to the Kings by 19 despite being up by 11 at the half, and been mocked by Kings’ players who poked fun at the humiliating punitive drills the Bulls might face the next day.
This (and probably more) left the organization scrambling to contain the damage. According to an ESPN report today, a meeting on Sunday between GM Gar Forman, EVP of basketball operations John Paxson, and the coaching staff birthed the idea of a “leadership committee.” Though it’s not yet clear what that would look like, here’s what they’re thinking:
In the second meeting on Sunday, the idea of forming a leadership committee was discussed, multiple sources told ESPN. The idea is that in the future, those appointed to the committee would be able to act as a liaison between the players and coaches.
It has been made clear that Boylen has been empowered and encouraged by Bulls management to use a firm hand in changing the Bulls’ culture. The way Boylen handled Sunday’s meetings has reinforced management’s belief in the new coach, sources said. They are fully on-board with Boylen’s tough-love leadership style.
It’s never an encouraging sign when the coaches and players need a whole separate task force to act as an intermediary, but that’s besides the point. In truth, the rot goes much deeper than any makeshift committee could root out—it goes straight to Gar-Pax itself, the idiot braintrust responsible for this basketball landfill, the people who enthusiastically hand-picked this coach.
But, you know what? At least one person sounds genuinely thrilled by this development.