This season, the Chicago Bulls have been the story of the East for all the wrong reasons. Just months after finding success with their ‘big three,’ the Bulls are losers of four straight games and are reeling as the 11th seed in the East.
With no word on when they can expect Lonzo Ball’s return and no clear-cut avenue to contention, there is a sense that this team is headed for a complete rebuild.
Those feelings only intensified after the latest reports of what happened during their blowout loss to the Timberwolves on Sunday.
According to Bulls beat writer Joe Crowley, there was a major locker room blowup at halftime in their latest defeat.
Sources indicated that there was a blowup between players at halftime of the Timberwolves loss, causing Bulls coaches to go into the locker room while they were talking outside. Source said it was the second time it happened. The other was right after a game.
Billy Donovan confirms there was a halftime blowup in Minnesota, but he did not go in there. Called it a good thing.
https://twitter.com/JCowleyHoops/status/1605332536804233216
Apparently, multiple players ganged up to call out Zach LaVine specifically, which may be an indicator that he’s part of the problem.
https://twitter.com/TheNBACentral/status/1605337801595265024
Locker room blowups like that are never a good sign for a team hoping to make the playoffs, but sometimes they are exactly what a team needs to get back on track. Last season, for example, the Celtics had to have several player-only meetings after getting off to a slow start. Of course, the same group made a run to the Finals a few months later.
If this Bulls team wants a similar turnaround, they’ll need Zach LaVine to lead the show, and it’s clear he doesn’t see eye-to-eye with the team right now.
Is Zach LaVine Headed For A Split From The Bulls?
The situation in Chicago right now is tense, to put it mildly, and LaVine is at the center of it all. Thanks to his inconsistent play on both ends of the floor, he’s been getting a lot of the blame for his team’s struggles.
Even more, multiple league sources and sources close to the organization say LaVine and the Bulls are not seeing eye-to-eye. Over the past few weeks, there’s been a palpable feeling across various parts of the franchise of a disconnect over LaVine’s situation in Chicago. All of this has been happening while LaVine is in the first season of a five-year, $215 million maximum deal that was signed this summer.
With so much of the season still left to go, the Bulls don’t have time to feel sorry for themselves. They have to keep their focus, shake off the negative energy, and move on to the next game if they want to avoid digging their early-season hole any deeper.
If not, we could see this Bulls team hit the big red button and send everybody away in an unprecedented rebuild.
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