Despite speculation about his future, Jim Boylen remains encouraged by his relationship with Bulls' new front office
CHICAGO — Chicago Bulls coach Jim Boylen largely remained quiet as speculation about his future and job status swirled following the team’s overhauled of its front office in April.
He issued a team statement after executive vice president Arturas Karnisovas was hired and marched alongside Wendell Carter Jr. and assistant coaches during a protest on Juneteenth, but otherwise kept a low profile all while being empowered to continue doing his job as coach.
In his first public comments about his new bosses, Boylen sounded encouraged and spoke positively about the relationship he has formed so far with Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversely.
“The relationship has gone really well,” Boylen told WOOD-TV at a “Unity in the Community” event in his hometown of Grand Rapids, Mich. “We communicate every day. I think they understand where we were, what we’re trying to get to. They’ve been very supportive and collaborative. It’s a process to build this team into what it can be.
“I just like the fact that we have a relationship already. It’s never perfect. Nothing’s perfect. You just work at it. Tell the truth. You get your guys to play hard. That’s what we’re trying to do.”
Since he took over the organization, Karnisovas moved quickly to make changes, firing general manager Gar Forman while making two new additions to the front office in Pat Connelly and J.J. Polk. However, Karnisovas has been more hesitant to make a decision on Boylen and his staff, wanting to form a relationship and evaluate the coach more closely in person before making a decision on his future.
He could have a chance to do that later this summer perhaps, if the NBA successfully launches a “second bubble” for the eight teams, including the Bulls, who were not invited to the league’s restart in Orlando, Fla. Chicago remains the favorite for a landing spot to host the bubble. With so much uncertainty still remaining on the schedule about that event and when the 2020-21 season might begin or look like when it does — as well as reports about team ownership’s favorable view of Boylen — the Bulls have been in no rush to make a decision on Boylen’s future.
Meanwhile Karnisovas, who completed the transition to Chicago after the coronavirus pandemic delayed his travel, has been in communication with Boylen on phone calls and video conferences but wants the chance to evaluate his team more closely, sitting in meetings and practices with the rest of the staff.
“We have a young team,” Boylen said. “We were 23.5 years old. We had an injury-laden season. We need to play. We need to compete. We played very hard. We were a hard-playing team, but we want to keep that edge going into next year. It’s hard to do that without the competition part of it. We’re hoping we can have some of that.”
———
©2020 Chicago Tribune
Visit the Chicago Tribune at www.chicagotribune.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
