{"id":2395,"date":"2017-11-12T14:00:51","date_gmt":"2017-11-12T19:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bowdoinglobalist.com\/?p=2395"},"modified":"2017-11-12T14:00:51","modified_gmt":"2017-11-12T19:00:51","slug":"how-to-destroy-a-basketball-team-completely-and-still-keep-your-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/students.bowdoin.edu\/bowdoin-review\/sports\/how-to-destroy-a-basketball-team-completely-and-still-keep-your-job\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Destroy a Basketball Team Completely (And Still Keep Your Job)"},"content":{"rendered":"

In an NBA offseason that was surrounded by more shocking headlines than possibly any other in history, the most bizarre news of them all came an hour before the new season tipped off. NBA insider <\/span>Shams Charania reported <\/span><\/a>that two Chicago Bulls players, Bobby Portis and Nikola Miroti\u0107, were involved in an altercation in practice that left the latter with a serious concussion and a broken jaw. Portis is suspended for eight games, widely considered to be too little around the league, and Miroti\u0107 is out for the foreseeable future. For those that are not NBA fans, those names won\u2019t ring much of a bell. It won\u2019t ring much of a bell for most fans either — this is completely normal. The Chicago Bulls, regular contenders throughout most of this decade with multiple sure-fire superstars, enter the 2017-2018 season with what is one of the worst rosters on paper the league has seen in a long while. <\/span><\/p>\n

This is not a situation similar to the infamous \u201cprocess\u201d of the Philadelphia 76ers either, as the Bulls haven\u2019t accumulated draft picks to set the team up for the future — they don\u2019t own much other than their own picks. The Chicago Bulls, in a league that is more professionally managed and analytics-driven than ever, stand as a relic of times when completely inept administrators, personal feuds and reports of teammates sucker punching each other were more commonplace. Led by the efforts of a comically overmatched duo of head administrators, Gar Forman and John Paxson, the Chicago Bulls have become the most incompetent organization in American sports. <\/span><\/p>\n

On April 12, 2011, until two minutes before the end of their first playoff game, the Bulls looked the part of the dynasty of the coming decade. Their roster featured the reigning Most Valuable Player Derrick Rose, an unstoppable combination of speed, athleticism, skills and basketball IQ. Nothing was more entertaining than watching <\/span>prime Rose<\/span><\/a> drive to the basket: benchwarmer bigs usually stood aside and watched with fear in their eyes as a literal speed train approached towards them. In addition, the roster was a defensive juggernaut, coached by one of the best in the league, Tom Thibodeau, and featuring aces like Joakim Noah, Carlos Boozer and Luol Deng. Their bench, called the \u201cBench Mob\u201d featured players like Taj Gibson, Kyle Korver, Omer Asik and then-rookie Jimmy Butler, all of which would earn massive contracts in the coming years. They were beaten by the Miami super-team the previous year, but they came back with a better looking and better coached roster into the playoffs hungry for blood. They were comfortably ahead by twelve in their first playoff game with two minutes to go. This looked to be the run where they finally put it together; they looked unstoppable.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cUh oh, Rose came down badly on his left foot. He\u2019s holding on to his knee…and down.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

-Mike Breen, TNT\u2019s announcer for the game<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And with that, Derrick Rose was out for the playoffs and the coming season. <\/span>Torn ACL<\/span><\/a>. Without its primary scorer, Chicago was eliminated in the first round. This marked a turning point for Rose\u2019s career as he was never his former, explosive self; but more importantly the injury revealed a deeper truth about the organization. The team\u2019s chief executives, Gar Forman and John Paxson (commonly referred to as GarPax) came to the forefront as bizarre decisions followed Rose\u2019s injury. Their decisions, seemingly based entirely on going against team personnels\u2019 advice out of spite and lying to the fans to keep them content, saw the team devolve into the single worst situation in the NBA today.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Rose-led Bulls team was coached by Tom Thibodeau, a defensive specialist who was widely acknowledged as one of the best in the league. Thibodeau, however, usually stood up against GarPax when they tried to convince him to make changes to the team. It got to a point where they were afraid of the fan backlash if they were to actually fire Thibodeau. They instead tried to undermine his system to get him to voluntarily leave.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Bulls administration did not renew the contract of Thibodeau\u2019s right hand man and assistant coach Ron Adams in 2013 for no apparent reason. Adams currently is an assistant coach for the reigning champions Golden State Warriors, and is one of the most respected staff members around the league. The same year, they refused to select the player Thibodeau specifically suggested to the management as his desired pick in the draft, instead opting for their pick Marquis Teague. Teague today plays in the NBA\u2019s development league after stints in Israel and Russia. Thibodeau\u2019s preferred player was Draymond Green — two time NBA champion, reigning Defensive Player of the year, <\/span>top ten player in the entire league<\/span><\/a> according to ESPN\u2019s preseason rankings. Thibodeau was eventually fired after the 2015 playoffs. He was replaced by Fred Hoiberg, whose arrival was quickly followed by the worst possible signings for his pace and space offense — players who can\u2019t shoot or run like Dwyane Wade and Rajon Rondo were signed to lucrative contracts. <\/span><\/p>\n

Before Thibodeau or Hoiberg, the Bulls were coached by Vinny Del Negro when GarPax were hired. The theme of executives feuding with coaches remained back then. <\/span>John Paxson choked Vinny Del Negro during a disagreement about the team\u2019s play in practice.<\/span><\/a> Paxson issued a half-hearted statement that wasn\u2019t even an apology, Del Negro was soon fired.<\/span><\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the feuding and the coach-choking ways of GarPax weren\u2019t even the most detrimental effect of the executive tandem to the team. They also showed an exceptional ineptitude in evaluating player value, and trading players to other teams. Here is a quick rundown of a few remarkable ones:<\/span><\/p>\n