Stan Van Gundy thinks the Chicago Bulls have created a terrible situation for NBA head coaches.
Van Gundy joined “Kap & Co” on ESPN 1000 in Chicago for an interview on Tuesday. He was asked about the team switching coaches and was critical of the Bulls’ front office.
“That’s a bad setup for coaches in Chicago,” Van Gundy said. “They had their conflicts over the years with Tom Thibodeau even though he was winning. They fired a guy in Thibodeau, who was having great success. … They quit on Fred (Hoiberg) and now they’re going to Jim (Boylen). I would bet on (John) Paxson and (Gar) Forman simply offering Jim Boylen up as their next excuse for poor performance.
“The bottom line is that is not a good place to be if you are an NBA basketball coach — working for those two guys. They don’t respect coaches.”
Van Gundy stressed consistency and a lack of turnover as a key to rebuilding with a young team, and he says the Bulls are doing the opposite. He also said he didn’t think the Bulls would be able to land desirable coaches.
“I don’t think anybody who’s had any experience in the league would take that job feeling like they’re going to be empowered and supported by the front office.”
The Bulls fired Thibodeau after five seasons and five playoff appearances on the job. They reached the conference finals in his first year and the conference finals twice. Then Hoiberg was hired and fired early this season and replaced by Boylen. The negative feelings seem to be permeating throughout the organization, as players have been critical of the coaches. The Bulls are just not a very desirable destination at this point.
