NEWSLETTER
The Chicago Bulls didn’t do anything to fend off the naysayers in their season opener on Wednesday night. In fact, they may have done the opposite.
After shooting just 41.5 percent from the floor in a 124-104 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on their home court, tensions were high in the locker room. Billy Donovan told reporters after the game that when he walked in, players were in the thick of a heated discussion. The head coach then asked if he should leave so the players could continue their talk, to which they said yes.
In other words, after Game 1 of 82, the Chicago Bulls held their first players-only meeting of the season! That’s totally normal and not concerning at all, right!?
Look, I don’t want to play a role in blowing this out of proportion. But this also isn’t the kind of thing we can totally ignore! Even if “embracing conflict” is something this group is trying to work on, does that have to include a “heated discussion” after the very first game of the regular season? Not to mention, does it have to include telling your head coach to leave the room? Billy Donovan should be a part of these early-season conversations, right?
I don’t necessarily want to criticize this group for trying to hold each other accountable. There is a world where this is a positive thing and it demonstrates that this group is taking things far more seriously from the jump. After all, the whole point of their destination training camp was to strengthen bonds and help influence open communication. But, again, is this the kind of communication we want to see after OPENING NIGHT!?
For what it’s worth, Nikola Vucevic gave a bit more insight and spun the conversation into a positive. Here’s what he told NBC Sports Chicago’s K.C. Johnson:
“A lot of guys said a lot of good things, things that needed to be said. I think we can really use this to learn and change some things that we need to change. It wasn’t anything crazy, no fighting or none of that. It was really constructive. It was maybe one of the first times since I’ve been here that this was like this. And it was really needed.”
Donovan also stated that he doesn’t think this kind of conversation would have happened last year, and he believes it’s a sign that “it’s important to them.”
I guess this makes me feel a little bit better? Good teams need to be able to have tough conversations, and this is clearly something the Chicago Bulls struggled to do over the past few years. At the end of the day, though, this just puts a weird exclamation point on a frustrating opening night.
We’ll see how they respond on Saturday.
