Team chemistry is one of the most-important things an NBA franchise can have, especially in a team sport like basketball, and trust is one of the biggest parts of that. That’s bad news for the Chicago Bulls, who are going through quite a rough patch right now as far as trust is concerned
Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting that Bulls’ star Jimmy Butler is having a bout of mistrust with the organization, and that stems from the belief that the coaches are spying on players for the front office and general manager Gar Forman.
Here’s an explosive excerpt from Cowley’s report:
“Butler and other Bulls have had issues with the “spying’’ that goes on in the locker room. He warned new players that if they didn’t want Forman to hear criticism, they shouldn’t talk in front of certain assistant coaches such as Randy Brown.”
If there’s any silver lining here it’s that Butler’s mistrust doesn’t seem to be directed at head coach Fred Hoiberg, at least as far as we know. But one can only imagine the rift in the locker room when one of the team’s most-notable players doesn’t feel he can trust an assistant coach. That has to rub off on other players, or at least conventional wisdom would say it does, especially since Butler is reportedly telling new players to watch their backs.
Here’s more from Cowley’s report:
The belief is that the Bulls love to gather as much ammunition as they can on players, so they can win the news conference when the breakup comes, whether it’s a trade or free agency. They did it with [Luol Deng], and they did it with [Joakim Noah] and Derrick [Rose],’’ a source said. “That’s how they operate.’’
The Bulls are currently sitting at .500 with a 25-25 record. They’re seventh in the Eastern Conference and third in the Central Division behind Cleveland and Indiana.
Chicago is trying to make a playoff push, but perhaps the Bulls have bigger issues to worry about in the long run. If the players can’t trust the coaches and the coaches are spying on the players for management (allegedly), what does that say about the long-term stability of this team?
We’ll have to wait and see because there’s obviously more to this story. In particular, it will be interesting to see how assistant coach Randy Brown reacts.