The Chicago Bulls continue to play hokey pokey on what they plan to do regarding Jim Boylen. Are they keeping him as the head coach or not? VP Arturas Karnisovas made it clear he intends to take his time making a decision and would prefer to actually see the guy in action first. Those hopes would have to wait until next season at this point, which kind of defeats the purpose. Still, the Bulls have remained linked to possible replacements. One of the biggest names is Adrian Griffin.
It isn’t hard to understand the interest. Griffin has established himself as one of the more successful assistant coaches in the NBA. A former player, he worked under Tom Thibodeau during the Bulls’ last run of success in the early 2010s. From there he eventually found his way to the Toronto Raptors where they went on to win the NBA championship last season.
Widespread success? A connection to the Bulls? It just makes way too much sense to consider bringing him back as a head coach. Except now those chances may have just taken a gigantic hit. Audrey Griffin, Griffin’s ex-wife, just delivered a post on Twitter detailing how the coach physically abused her.
Be warned the details she provides get ugly.
This is brutal timing for Adrian Griffin
Now it’s important not to jump to immediate conclusions. Yes, she offered details. At the same time, she didn’t offer proof. While it’s very possible Griffin actually did those things, innocent until proven guilty still exists. Guys like Ray Rice and Tyreek Hill were rightfully scorned for their tags as domestic abusers because proof emerged in both cases. All anybody has to go on at this point is the former Mrs. Griffin’s personal testimony.
It’s clear that there is bad blood between the two and it isn’t a big stretch to think she might fabricate such a story just to spite him. Divorces can get that ugly. Even more so.
That said, the timing of this revelation is just awful for Griffin. It is clear to many experts that he would be a coveted coaching candidate after the bubble season in Orlando was over for the Raptors. The Bulls were one of the teams eager to meet with him. Now? Even if the stories aren’t true, there is no way an NBA franchise would risk putting a possible wife beater in charge. Not without validation from a court that he’s been found innocent.
Maybe that is what she wanted all along. Who knows.
