Paxson's job safe thanks to fan apathy

A funny thing happened in the United Center the other night: Basketball talk broke out during a hockey game.

Bulls general manager John Paxson's ears must have been ringing. No, they must have been burning.

The guy sitting next to me asked why Paxson "is getting a pass" in this town.

His point was that the Blackhawks are good, yet GM Dale Tallon gets more grief from their fans than Paxson gets from Bulls fans.

After needing a moment to remember who the Bulls are, I muttered that they're so bad that hardly anybody cares about them or Paxson anymore.

The worst thing that can happen to any sports franchise is to become irrelevant. Just ask the Hawks. Now the Bulls are verging on that if they aren't already there.

Ironically, Paxson might be saved by that for a while.

Talk-radio hosts still are hashing and rehashing the Bears' season instead of addressing the Bulls. Newspapers buried pro basketball on the inside pages behind the NHL Winter Classic and the Hawks.

Artistically and competitively the Bulls are back to about five or six years ago when club chairman Jerry Reinsdorf had to replace Jerry Krause with Paxson.

That move was as surprising as firing Paxson would be.

Listen, it's possible the Bulls are better than we think. It's also possible Paxson is the man to fix them.

Of course, both of those possibilities would have to go in the anything is possible bin.

The Bulls averted further embarrassment Tuesday night by struggling to beat the awful Kings. They might even beat the lowly Wizards and Thunder this weekend for a mini-winning streak.

Regardless, even acknowledging injuries and a tough schedule, little about the Bulls is inspiring other than rookie point guard Derrick Rose.

People soon will start noticing the Bulls, perhaps for all the wrong reasons, and wonder out loud why Paxson's job isn't in jeopardy ... or for that matter why he would even want the aggravation of keeping it.

Listen, I'm like all the locals who want Paxson to succeed as much as they wanted Denis Savard to succeed.

Savard is a legend for his Hall-of-Fame career with the Hawks, and Paxson is a legend for the jump shot that gave the Bulls the 1993 NBA title.

But the Hawks fired Savard as their head coach because they didn't believe he could take them to the next level.

Would the Bulls fire Paxson for the same reason?

Maybe they would if Reinsdorf felt the urgency to win a title that Hawks management feels. Maybe he would if the Bulls' season-ticket base slumped to the level the Hawks' did.

Remember the old impression that the Hawks' only fans were the ones who showed up at games? That might not only be said of the Bulls soon, but it might be true.

Seriously, on most nights the Bulls look like a mess. Young players are just bad enough to lose with, veterans are just good enough to lose with and the head coach is just inexperienced enough to lose with them.

The big fear is that the precocious Rose's progress will be limited by the company he keeps.

This is the club Paxson built and the one he will have to answer for once fans around here care enough about the Bulls again.

mimrem@dailyherald.com