Why do so many in the Chicago Bulls’ organization like Jim Boylen?
The Chicago Bulls have to fire Jim Boylen right? Don’t they? I mean, there’s no chance he can be the head coach heading into next season, can he? Despite every logical fiber of my being telling me there is no chance he’s patrolling the sidelines when the Bulls kickoff the 2020-21 season, the irrational side of me, like the flip side of a Frosted Mini-Wheat, is getting nervous.
The status of Boylen has been a little all over the map in the weeks following the hiring of Arturas Karnisovas. Within days of the hiring, there were reports that indicated Boylen felt both confident and concerned about his future with the team.
At the time, it was hard to understand his mercurial nature, but as new information emerges, it starts to make a little more sense.
Chicago Bulls’ owner still in Jim Boylen’s corner
Yesterday, while appearing on ESPN 1000 with Kap & Co., Ramona Shelburne mentioned that in her interview with owner Jerry Reinsdorf, that he’s practically emploring the new front office to give Boylen a legitimate chance to keep his job and has urged them to “take him seriously.”
Let’s put aside what it says about your head coach that your owner needs to request that the people you hired to run the team “take him seriously” as if he’s a five-year-old asking for a $1 million investment in a lemonade stand.
Instead, let’s take the statement for what it appears to be — and that is a level of confidence in Boylen held by the most important person in the organization — the owner. Now, you’d certainly like to think that the owner wouldn’t meddle and instead would let the people he hired do the job they were hired to do.
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But it’s at least a tad concerning that Boylen has the support of Reinsdorf, and also John Paxson, who remains with the team, though admittedly in a role with less influence. How much of their influence collectively though will they choose to exert over the new front office? How far will Reinsdorf go to insist they “take him seriously?”
You’re right — I’m sure I’m just being paranoid. Or am I?