Tag: Jim Boylen

Former Bulls head coach Jim Boylen receives new NBA job

Former Chicago Bulls head coach Jim Boylen is back in the NBA.

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For the past decade, the Chicago Bulls haven’t exactly been at the peak of their basketball existence. Two years ago, they snapped a four-year playoff drought, but outside of Derrick Rose and Jimmy Butler, no one has consistently led them to the postseason.

Throughout the dog days, the Bulls went through different coaching options, and not all of them were favorites of the fan base. One coach in particular, Jim Boylen, received heavy criticism from fans. He took over as head coach 24 games into the 2018-19 season and was fired after the 2019-20 season. Now, he’s back in the league.

The Indiana Pacers named Boylen to their coaching staff, where he will serve under Rick Carlisle, per KC Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago.

“After serving as a consultant last season for the Indiana Pacers, the franchise named him an assistant coach on Rick Carlisle’s coaching staff on Saturday. The former Bulls coach has over two decades of NBA experience and has developed a reputation as a defensive strategist.

This will be Boylen’s second stint with the Pacers. He previously served as Frank Vogel’s assistant from 2011-13,” Johnson wrote.

Boylen has been floating around the NBA since the 1992 season, when he began his coaching career. He spent 11 seasons with the Houston Rockets. He has also spent time with the Milwaukee Bucks and San Antonio Spurs.

Now, Boylen will make his official return to an NBA bench and will be in the same division as the Bulls, the only spot where he’s landed a head coaching position thus far.

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“I learned what it’s like to coach in a …

“I learned what it’s like to coach in a really big market,” Boylen said. “It’s different. I learned what the media is like in a big market. I learned the pressures of what a big market does and a rebuild in a big market does to the vertical alignment of your organization. It puts a lot of pressure on.” Boylen said he was grateful to the Reinsdorfs, not only for hiring him, but for signing him to a contract under which he is still being paid. He said there were things he did while coach of the Bulls that he would change if he had the chance, but he didn’t want to name them because “if I tell you those things, I hurt people.” Without going into detail, he cited the roster and “dysfunction” in the front office.

“I’m very direct, I think you see …

“I’m very direct, I think you see that,” Boylen told me last week, as we sat in the bleachers at the Washington Wizards’ practice facility, where Team USA worked out. “I was very direct in Chicago. I coached that Chicago team how John Paxson and Jerry Reinsdorf wanted it coached.” Boylen is the coach of Team USA, but not the Team USA that plays in the 2023 World Cup, or the 2024 Paris Olympics. That’s Steve Kerr’s job. Boylen is coaching the Team USA that is trying to win enough games to qualify for the World Cup. He has a roster full of G Leaguers, instead of NBA All-Stars, and the games are spaced months apart. The new job is going well for Boylen, who has collected three wins against one defeat so far.

Fomer Bulls coach Jim Boylen, I’m told, …

Fomer Bulls coach Jim Boylen, I’m told, is indeed locked in to coach USAB’s World Cup qualifying team in its next two games in February after going 1-1 last month against Cuba and Mexico. Boylen might well end up coaching the qualifying team in all six two-game windows it must complete through February 2023 to secure a spot in the 32-nation field for the 2023 Worlds in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia, but that will depend to an extent on Boylen’s NBA future and whether he returns to the league after this season.

Zach LaVine found out the Bulls hired Billy Donovan while streaming Call of Duty

He was so focused on the game he forgot to be excited.

Zach LaVine very clearly did not like Jim Boylen as a head coach. They got into it a bunch and LaVine was beyond finished with him by the time the NBA season was over.

So one would think that just about any head coaching hire other than Boylen would get LaVine hyped up, right? Right. But he didn’t seem overly excited when he found out the Bulls hired former Oklahoma City Thunder coach Billy Donovan.

He found out about the Bulls new coaching hire while playing a game of Call of Duty. He was speaking to someone on the mic and giving them the news.

Calling the reaction a tepid response might be too kind. Honestly, it’s hilarious.

“Oh, damn, we got Billy Donovan as our next coach…I swear, just came out. Wow. That’d be good…Welp, I’m glitching again.” 

Spoken like a true gamer, Zach. This is hilarious. He goes from the news right back to focusing on his game.

To be fair to him, Call of Duty is mad intense. Can’t blame him too much here. No distractions — not even new head coaching hires.

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We’ve seen some of those guys, …

We’ve seen some of those guys, especially Popovich and Doc Rivers, talk about things going on in society during press conferences. Speaking of coaches, I don’t know if you’ve seen this as we’re recording this podcast, but Jim Boylen was let go by the Bulls. What goes through your mind when you see another coach gets fired? Lloyd Pierce: For me, it’s disturbing. It’s upsetting. Jim’s a great man. I know the challenges that he was facing as a coach with a team that’s similarly young to ours. You’re trying to get that thing going. It’s not always the easiest task at hand when you’re dealing with the media, social media, young players, and the expectations of everyone. Everyone wants to win, and everyone wants to win right now. I know the position. I’m in the position, but we all know as coaches that this is the job we’re in. We understand the expectations that come with the job. We understand the seriousness of those expectations, and we take on the task knowing that. I think Jim will be fine. He’ll land on his feet soon. He was granted a great opportunity. I hope nothing but the best for him. I also understand this is our business, so it is what it is sometimes.

Atlanta Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce was …

Atlanta Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce was recording a podcast appearance with HoopsHype as news of Boylen’s firing broke. As a fellow coach tasked with developing a young team in a rebuild, the news hit home for Pierce. “For me, it’s disturbing,” Pierce told HoopsHype. “It’s upsetting. Jim’s a great man. I know the challenges that he was facing as a coach with a team that’s similarly young to ours. You’re trying to get that thing going. It’s not always the easiest task at hand when you’re dealing with the media, social media, young players, and the expectations of everyone. Everyone wants to win, and everyone wants to win right now.