Jim Boylen is a lucky man. Under normal circumstances, he probably would’ve been looking for work by now. The COVID-19 pandemic shutting down the NBA season for months may have actually been a huge break. It left his overall impact on the Chicago Bulls somewhat vague since he still hasn’t completed a full season as head coach.
In the eyes of fans, they’ve seen enough. Nothing about how this team performed since Boylen took over suggests he has the qualities of a good coach. His management late in games is highly suspect and relationships with players appear murky at best. Yet none of that seems to bother him. As time has gone on, Boylen has begun to almost strut to appearances. Word has persisted he feels confident he will keep his job. That confidence continues to grow the longer VP Arturas Karnisovas doesn’t make a decision.
K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago stated that the coach is already making plans for next season.
Boylen and his staff are operating as if they’ll return for the 2020-21 season. He is confident Karnisovas and Eversley understand the improvement the Bulls made as a young team in areas like defense, pace and shot quality before widespread injuries hit. Boylen has two years remaining on his deal and has a strong relationship with ownership.
“We have a young team,” Boylen told the Grand Rapids TV station. “We were 23 1/2 years old. We had an injury-laden season. We need to play. We need to compete. We played very hard. We were a hard-playing team, but we want to keep that edge going into next year. It’s hard to do that without the competition part of it. We’re hoping we can have some of that.”
Jim Boylen having the Reinsdorf backing was critical
Facts are facts. The reason Boylen may end up surviving isn’t that he has a good relationship with his players and now Karnisovas. It was always because of Jerry and Michael Reinsdorf liking him. Having them, along with former president John Paxson, in his corner makes the decision to move against him almost impossible for Karnisovas. Yes, ownership has said the final decision is his, but let’s be real. There is no way the guy was going to go against the wishes of the people who just handed him his dream job.
When word spread the Reinsdorfs were interested in keeping Boylen, that was pretty much it. It’s becoming more and more difficult to envision Karnisovas removing him as head coach before basketball resumes in the fall for the Bulls. Not the ideal scenario fans were hoping for and not the best way for the new Vice President of Basketball Operations to gain their confidence.
