Jim Boylen defends playing Bulls player for 41 minutes with toe fracture
Chicago Bulls coach Jim Boylen took some heat Sunday after one of his players played 41 minutes on a fractured toe Friday night.
Bulls forward Chandler Hutchison injured his toe late in a game last Wednesday against the Atlanta Hawks, but practiced and played Friday night. Not only did he play, but the Bulls kept him on the court for 41 minutes in a losing effort against the Los Angeles Clippers. On Saturday, he was promptly diagnosed with the injury, which will sideline him for at least two weeks.
Boylen pointed out that Hutchison wanted to play and wasn’t bothered by the injury during the game.
#Bulls coach Jim Boylen had a long answer and reasoning regarding the mindset in Chandler Hutchison in playing 41 minutes Friday with a toe fracture that he suffered Wednesday. Boylen ended it with, “I’m proud of Hutch.” pic.twitter.com/b4x1P1eSvv
— Cody Westerlund (@CodyWesterlund) January 27, 2019
Boylen is an unapologetically old-school coach, which actually caused him to clash with his players initially. Players are going to want to play through anything if they can, and to be fair, the Bulls apparently did not know the extent of Hutchison’s injury when using him. Perhaps that’s one thing that could have been done better here.