Bulls respond to controversy with dismal loss to Miami
The Bulls held a long team meeting before Friday's shootaround in an attempt to sort out the drama of the previous two days. The healing didn't take hold right away.
Jimmy Butler shrugged off the recent events by claiming he likes controversy. No one who had to sit through the Bulls' abysmal 100-88 loss to Miami at the United Center is feeling good about the topic today.
Butler and Dwyane Wade were removed from the starting lineup as punishment for making critical comments about teammates following Wednesday's loss to Atlanta. Butler did not respond well, hitting just 1 of 13 shots from the field and finishing with 3 points. Wade started slowly but ended up leading the Bulls in scoring with 15 points.
"Like I said earlier, if we win, it's a good thing. Tonight, it doesn't look that good," Butler said in the locker room. "It's OK, though. I'll be back. I promise I will be back. I'm not worried about it at all. I'm going to take the same shots next game and the game after that and they'll go in."
Butler checked in at the 6:53 mark of the first and Wade followed about 30 seconds later. So the punishment was mild and didn't seem to affect the team as a whole. The score was tied 53-53 at halftime, but with Butler and Wade back on the floor to start the third quarter, the Bulls were outscored 24-14 and never recovered.
After the game, coach Fred Hoiberg was well aware of the big picture, with just one home game left before the Bulls head out on a tough six-game road trip through the Western Conference.
"We obviously had a very emotional day," Hoiberg said. "It's not an excuse for how we played. It's the worst game we've played all year, in my opinion.
"It's something where I hope what happened this morning has long-term benefits for our team. We've go to get back together, we've got to work. We've got to regroup. We've got to find a way to get back together, put this one behind us and hopefully stay together as a team moving forward."
To rehash, the Bulls blew a 10-point lead in the final three minutes against Atlanta on Wednesday and after the game, Wade and Butler complained that teammates didn't care enough about winning. Rajon Rondo responded by posting a long message on Instagram where he criticized the Bulls' team leadership and compared it to what he learned from Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce in his Boston days.
Rondo was removed from the starting lineup in late December and ironically, he ended up playing long stretches with Butler and Wade on Friday. Rondo had a good game, contributing 13 points, 7 assists, 7 rebounds and 3 steals in 32 minutes. That's the most he's played since Dec. 28, a few days before getting benched.
"I feel like I can play with anybody," Rondo said. "We've got a tough stretch coming up next week. We'll see what we're made of."
Wade didn't say much after the game, sticking mostly to praise for Miami, which won its sixth straight game, despite not having center Hassan Whiteside because of an ankle injury.
Earlier in the day, the Bulls' two stars talked about what transpired in the previous two days.
"I'm sorry, but I like controversy. I like it, butting heads," Butler said. "At the end of the day, we're all we've got anyway, so you've got to go out there and battle with the guys that are around here. That's that."
Added Wade, "As a leader, sometimes you can't be liked. Certain things you say and do won't always be the most popular. I'm OK with that."
Rondo said he actually spoke to Garnett about his Instagram letter. One problem with Wade and Butler's comments is it indicted all teammates, while the bulk of their frustration is likely focused on a few.
"I wasn't trying to be the bad guy," Rondo said. "I wanted to speak up for my teammates, some who didn't have a voice or didn't have their certain platform. I wanted to speak freely and say what I thought. I have a great relationship with a lot of them, pretty much all of them and they had some things to say. They got it out today (in the team meeting)."
Rondo said the Bulls management team of John Paxson and Gar Forman attended the team meeting. Forman made a statement to reporters, but didn't answer questions.
"We were extremely disappointed that several players chose to speak out after our last game," Forman said. "You know, every team has issues and it's our strong belief that when you have issues or critical comments that you keep those issues or critical comments in house."
When the day ended, the Bulls were still in playoff position, eighth in the East. What's funny is the Bulls didn't even make the top echelon of NBA controversies. Most of the national talk Friday was about LeBron James criticizing Cavaliers' management and the Knicks' reported quest to trade Carmelo Anthony.
They have work to do in more ways than one.
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