Zach LaVine insisted that he and Chicago Bulls coach Billy Donovan have put the benching controversy behind them as they look to get their 2022-23 campaign back on track.
To jog back memory a bit, the guard was livid when he was pulled off the floor with 3:43 remaining in their close 108-107 loss to the Orlando Magic. LaVine had a forgettable outing with just 4 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists.
The benching didn’t sit well with him as he later took his shot at the coach, but now, the two-time NBA All-Star said it was all good between him and Donovan. According to ESPN:
“I just told him I feel like I’ve earned the right to go out there and try to play through a bad game. His decision was to try to do the best thing for the team, which I respect. If we won, obviously, I would’ve been ecstatic. We lost, I wasn’t. I had a terrible game.”
“But it’s one game, man. I don’t want to get this blown out of proportion to the point we’re talking about a loss, where we’ve had multiple losses this year. We got a lot of games left this year. We’re all good. I think he understands where I’m coming from and I understand his decision as a coach that he has to make are tough, even if your players don’t agree with it.”
While this may have quashed any rumors of the player-against-coach feud, the Bulls still have work to do.
The Chicago Bulls Have Been Inconsistent This Season
The Bulls began their NBA 2022-23 season with a win against the Miami Heat, but a loss in their next couple of games, followed by a win, saw their pattern go like a sine wave, despite DeMar DeRozan’s scintillating form.
Perhaps the most stinging loss came against the Magic — a team Chicago was expected to breeze past. Despite some solid wins, they find themselves 8-10 and placed 10th in the East.
The focus will be on the team’s key core of LaVine, DeRozan, and Nikola Vucevic (who came under scrutiny for missing the free throws against Orlando). They play competitive opponents in the Oklahoma City Thunder, Utah Jazz, and the Phoenix Suns in their next three games, where they hope to get closer to the .500 mark.
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