Chicago Bulls won't start Butler, Wade vs. Miami

Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg announced Jimmy Butler and Dwyane Wade will not start Friday's game against Miami, due to critical comments both players made after Wednesday's loss to Atlanta.

Both players will play Friday, Hoiberg said. The Bulls' starting lineup is expected to include Jerian Grant, Doug McDermott, Paul Zipserm Taj Gibson and Robin Lopez.

"We felt it was appropriate to make the change," Hoiberg said before the game. "Those guys both still will play. We've spoken to both of them about it. They understand and we're going to move forward."

Hoiberg was hopeful the Bulls will be ready to play after the recent drama. Wade and Butler criticized teammates after the game, then Rajon Rondo posted a message on Instagram criticizing the team's leadership.

"We thought it was a productive day today," said Hoiberg, who said it was his decision to bench the players. "When you have a (team) meeting like that - which I've been a part of a lot of them in my career as a player, in the front office and now as a coach - you hope your team can go out and find a way to band together and play with great effort. That's the hope with our group.

"We know it's an emotional game. The biggest thing we felt was things happened after the game we had to take action on. That's why we made the decision."

Hoiberg was asked if the past two days have been the toughest of his coaching career.

"It's a good question. It's something all coaches go through at some point. A lot of coaches have gone through it this year," he said. "Again, you just try to do the best you can with it, get the team together, get things off your chest and move forward. That's exactly what we did. Hopefully we can go out and play and put everything from the last 48 hours behind us."