The Chicago Bulls are one of the best teams in the NBA this season.
They’re currently sitting at the second seed in the East with a record of 39-23, just two games behind the number one Miami Heat.
With the help of Zach LaVine, Nikola Vucevic, Alex Caruso, Lonzo Ball, and especially DeMar DeRozan, the team is on the verge of possibly making its first NBA Finals in years.
This wasn’t always the case.
Just a few years ago, the Bulls were doing far, far worse.
And now previous head coach Jim Boylen is speaking out about his time with the then-troubled team.
“I did everything I could possibly do to get that team to play competitive basketball,” Boylen told The Athletic.
Boylen said that dysfunction in the front office and a troubled roster held the Bulls back during his tenure.
Is he just passing the buck or does Boylen have a point?
Boylen On The Bulls
Boylen joined the Bulls in 2015, when he was named as an associate head coach.
In late 2018, Boylen was then named head coach after Fred Hoiberg was fired.
Just two years later, Boylen was also given the heave-ho after a 39-84 record in two seasons.
His .317 winning percentage was the second-worst in franchise history.
Boylen says that much of the team’s problems were related to roster issues and the front office.
While the front office likely did have a hand in the team not performing well, it seems a bit short-sighted to blame so much on the roster.
In fact, some of the guys that Boylen coached are the same ones on the championship-caliber team we see today.
It’s true that many of the pieces were missing but it’s undeniable that the team had a lot of talent when Boylen was in charge.
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