- The Bulls’ lottery chances could be jeopardized if they’re included in plans to resume the season, K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago opines. Chicago is currently seventh in the draft lottery standings, giving the team a 32% chance at a top-four pick and a 7.5% chance at the No. 1 pick, Johnson notes. If the Bulls got hot during the resumption of play and even advanced in a revised playoff format, those odds would drop.
MAY 29: The Bulls won’t reopen their facility today, but have received the go-ahead to open their doors for individual workouts beginning next Wednesday, June 3, tweets K.C. Johnson. That’s the date that the city’s “phase three” plan begins for reopening following coronavirus closures.
According to Johnson (Twitter link), new Bulls execs Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley, who have been working remotely since being hired, are scheduled to be in Chicago soon.
MAY 27: The Mavericks will reopen their practice facility on Thursday, becoming the 23rd team to do so, and the Bulls appears likely to follow suit on Friday, becoming the 24th, as K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago reports (Twitter link).
The franchise received clearance from the Governor’s office and is in discussions with the city on how to safely open the facility. Under league rules, the workouts are voluntary. Only four players at a time are permitted in the facility and no group activities such as practices or scrimmages are allowed.
Johnson adds that not many of the Bulls’ players are currently in Chicago. There’s also no guarantee that the Bulls will be included in the NBA’s return. The league is contemplating many scenarios and there’s some skepticism from teams that all franchises won’t be included.
The Celtics, Knicks, Pistons, Warriors, Spurs, and Wizards are the only remaining franchises with closed facilities.
- Bulls guard Tomas Satoransky is also concerned about a huge gap between seasons for also-rans, Rob Schaefer of NBC Sports Chicago relays. In an interview posted on Euro Hoops Instagram Live, Satoransky said it would be very tough for NBA players to deal with that type of layoff. “I think it’s difficult to imagine being without a game until December, this year basically being without games. That kind of changes your perspective also on being able to come back to finish the season,” Satoransky said. “We are competitors and we want to compete against everyone.”
- There were rumblings during the season that Bulls forward Lauri Markkanen was unhappy, but he declared in a recent podcast he wants to stay with the franchise long-term. “I want to stay in Chicago and sign an extension (with the Bulls), no question. I love this city,” Markkanen said on Finnish podcast Urheilucast (hat tip to On Tap Sports Net). Markkanen is eligible for a rookie scale extension prior to next season.
Although the Bulls‘ ownership group and former executive VP of basketball operations John Paxson have voiced their support for head coach Jim Boylen, they’ve also made it clear to the newly-hired executives in the front office that they’ll allow Boylen’s dismissal if Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley want to go in that direction, writes Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times.
Cowley, who wrote earlier this month that Karnisovas and Eversley are likely leaning toward making a coaching change, notes that the Bulls will have a clearer sense of a timeline for that decision once the NBA makes an announcement on the fate of the 2019/20 season. If the team doesn’t resume play, the front office could be in position to make a call on Boylen sooner rather than later.
Here’s more on the Bulls:
- While Boylen’s fate remains up in the air, the Bulls have exercised their 2020/21 option on assistant coach Nate Loenser, reports K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. As Johnson explains, Loenser – whose contract is the only one that required an immediate decision – is well-respected by players and has established a strong reputation for player development.
- The Bulls aren’t retaining longtime trainer Jeff Tanaka, writes Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. Tanaka has been the club’s head trainer since 2014 and was an assistant trainer before that, dating back to 2008. With his contract up, Arturas Karnisovas and the new-look front office decided to go in another direction and intend to bring in someone of their own choosing, per Cowley.
- The Bulls should be well-prepared for the 2020 draft, according to Cowley, who points out that newly-hired executives Karnisovas, Marc Eversley, Pat Connelly, and J.J. Polk will bring with them intel from three separate franchises. Throw in the research the Bulls’ existing scouts have done and there should be no shortage of information on this year’s prospects as the team sets its draft board.
Former Jazz coach Jerry Sloan has passed away due to complications from Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia, the team announced today in a press release. Sloan was 78 years old.
“Jerry Sloan will always be synonymous with the Utah Jazz,” the club said in a statement. “He will forever be a part of the Utah Jazz organization and we join his family, friends and fans in mourning his loss. We are so thankful for what he accomplished here in Utah and the decades of dedication, loyalty and tenacity he brought to our franchise.”
After a two-and-a-half-year stint coaching the Bulls from 1979-82, Sloan took over as Utah’s head coach during the 1988/89 season. He remained in that role for 23 years, compiling a 1,127-682 (.623) regular season record with the franchise during that time. He also won 96 postseason contests with the Jazz, leading the club to two NBA Finals appearances against Michael Jordan‘s Bulls in 1997 and 1998.
Sloan’s 1,221 wins as an NBA head coach place him fourth in league history, behind only Don Nelson, Lenny Wilkens, and Gregg Popovich. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009.
Prior to becoming an NBA coach, Sloan was a standout player, having been drafted fourth overall by the Baltimore Bullets in 1965. He spent most of his playing career in Chicago, earning a pair of All-Star berths and six All-Defensive nods for the Bulls.
We at Hoops Rumors send our condolences to Sloan’s family and friends.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
The LeBron James–Michael Jordan debate will continue raging among basketball fans, media, and those close to the game for years, but the Lakers star would rather think about other things — like playing alongside Air Jordan.
“Me personally, the way I play the game — team first — I feel like my best assets work perfectly with Mike,” James said (as Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com relays). “Mike is an assassin. When it comes to playing the game of basketball, scoring the way he scored the ball, [then] my ability to pass, my ability to read the game plays and plays and plays in advance.”
James has been watching The Last Dance and admitted that it inspires him. James said he could envision the two superstars finding success together on the court.
“I saw the things (Scottie Pippen) was able to do with Mike. I just think it would’ve been a whole nother level,” James said. “Pip was one of my favorite players … It would’ve been a whole other level with me being a point forward, with me being that point forward alongside of him during those Chicago runs.”
The three-time NBA champ also touched on his time playing pickup with Jordan years ago. James first got a chance to play with the Space Jam star as an 18-year-old after signing his deal with Nike.
“We used to play around 9 p.m. The camp would end … and we would stay along with the college kids that he would invite,” James said. “We would get a good-ass run in for about an hour, an hour (and) 15. I was on the same team with MJ, and we didn’t lose a game.”
James grew up a Bulls fan, watching Jordan. He also grew up a Cowboys fan, watching the NFL squad, and he considered switching sports, akin to Mike’s baseball stint, back in 2011, as we passed along earlier today on Pro Football Rumors. Dallas even had a contract ready for James during the NBA’s lockout, but the Akron native opted to stay on the court.
The Bulls made some changes this offseason, bringing in Arturas Karnisovas to be the team’s head of basketball operations and Marc Eversley to be the new general manager. Owner Jerry Reinsdorf has high hopes for the newly-hired duo.
“I’m excited about these guys,” Reinsdorf told K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. “In talking with Arturas and hearing what everyone else said about him, I was convinced we made the right decision. He’s not an egomaniac. He’s not shy. He seems balanced and basketball smart. That’s what I got out of the interview.”
Karnisovas is just the third person to hold the head of basketball operations title since Reinsdorf took over control of the team. Jerry Krause and John Paxson were the other two executives to run things in Chicago. However, unlike the previous hires, Reinsdorf didn’t lead the search and interview process; his son, Michael Reinsdorf, did.
“At the end of the day, my Dad, Jerry, is still the boss. So we had to have that final interview with my dad, and we did that over video. And it was clear after that meeting that we had our new head of basketball operations,” the younger Reinsdorf said in April. “I think what my Dad said to me after the meeting when we reconvened was: ‘I never thought you would find anyone as great as Arturas.’ So I knew we were done, and that night we were able to negotiate a deal with Arturas.”
On Sunday night, ESPN aired the final two hours of The Last Dance, its 10-part documentary series that told the story of the Bulls‘ 1997/98 season, with a number of entertaining digressions along the way.
With nearly every North American professional sport on a hiatus for the time being, the Michael Jordan-centric series was well-timed. It dominated the discussion among basketball fans for five weeks while appealing to more casual viewers as well.
For older viewers, it was an opportunity to relive the Bulls’ dynasty of the 1990s while perhaps learning some new details along the way. For younger viewers who didn’t get a chance to follow Jordan in his prime, it was perhaps more illuminating, offering the opportunity to explore iconic NBA moments such as MJ’s series-winning shot over Cleveland in 1989, his rivalry with the Bad-Boy Pistons, and his return from an 18-month stint as a baseball player.
Even now that the documentary has finished airing, there are no shortage of topics to discuss. For instance, did 1998 really have to be the “last dance” for that Bulls dynasty? ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne explored this morning whether the team could have been kept intact beyond that season.
ESPN’s Royce Young, meanwhile, notes that Jordan said in the last installment of the doc that he would’ve been willing to sign up for one more year if the rest of the team’s key players were brought back too; on the other hand, ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link) expresses some skepticism that Scottie Pippen would have been on board to return when he had a massive offer from Houston waiting for him in free agency.
Of course, the ongoing Jordan vs. LeBron James debate hasn’t lost any momentum in recent weeks, though an ESPN survey suggests that The Last Dance may have helped tip the scales in further in Jordan’s favor when it comes to public opinion. According to ESPN’s poll, 73% of respondents now believe Jordan is the superior overall player.
We want to know what you think. Could the Bulls have won a seventh title if they’d brought back the 1998 team, or was it the right call for that version of the club to go out on top? Did The Last Dance change – or solidify – your stance in the Jordan/LeBron debate?
Outside of those topics, we want to know what you thought about the documentary in general. What were you favorite moments or episodes? Were you surprised by anything you learned over the course of those 10 episodes? Were you disappointed by details that may have been left out? Did you think the story of Jordan and the Bulls was well told?
And, of course, do you buy Jordan’s claim that he didn’t really push off Bryon Russell in Game 6 of the 1998 Finals?
Head to the comment section below to share your thoughts on The Last Dance!
- K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago examined a number of topics in his latest mailbag, including the Bulls’ front office structure, Jim Boylen‘s job security and more. The Bulls recently revamped their front office by hiring Arturas Karnisovas as executive president of basketball operations and Marc Eversley as general manager.
- Bulls director of player development Shawn Respert, whose contract is set to expire at the end of the season, won’t be retained beyond 2019/20, according to K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. Interestingly, Johnson says that decision was made by Jim Boylen, who remains the Bulls’ head coach for now as he continues to be evaluated by the team’s new basketball operations decision-makers.