Well, this was unexpected, to say the least. I mean we all knew it was going to happen, but not this soon.
Today the Chicago Bulls announced the firing of Fred Hoiberg, who was in his 4th year out of a 5-year contract. John Paxson, VP of Basketball Operations for the Chicago Bulls led the press conference out of the gate and boy, it was something.
John Paxson started of the presser thanking and praising Fred for his contributions to the team. Pax said that the reason that this move was made was that of “Competitive Spirit”. He said the Bulls young players seemed not to fight and a change needed to be made immediately.
This is something that most of BullsNation has noticed within Fred’s tenure. The team and all of the young players on it don’t seem to play hard enough for him and it shows out on the court. Not to mention how players such as Jabari Parker and Zach Lavine have called out Fred to the media as recent as this year.
Paxson is then asked about Gar Forman and if Gar is safe since Fred was his hire. Pax replied, “Yes, Gar is safe”. He then went on to stay that that was just a report that Gar hired Fred, the whole organization including Paxson was on board with the Fred hire. Fred was praised by Pax as an individual development coach but in the team-setting is where he lacked and ultimately failed.
It was also acknowledged that Fred hasn’t had a healthy roster for the last two years and he had a lot of hurdles to overcome, but the decision was made because the team didn’t show enough fight.
Pax then moved into Jim Boylen stating that this is not an interim title and they are going to give Jim the ball and let him run with it.
Jim Boylen was introduced shortly after the Paxson presser and he seemed very excited for the opportunity. Jim said the culture needs to change and that he is the guy for the job. He said where he and Fred differ is being vocal and energetic when coaching.
Only time will tell if this is going to stick, but why not give Jim a chance? He has 3 rings and has assisted some legendary coaches. He wants to implement a new culture and mindset and get this team back to winning some ball games.
Here’s to another new era in Chicago Basketball, hold on tight.
