Bulls Fans Chant 'FIRE GARPAX' During Lavine ESPN Interview

[Nucky Thompson]

I was more discussing when people slip from demanding job performance into forming personal opinions about the people involved.

To be fair, the Chicago Bulls Vice-President of Operations has physically assaulted a former coach over difference of opinion. He has also lashed out with tempter tantrums against various members of the Chicago Sports media over legit questions being asked of him. I think it's fair to say, that on a personal level, he's not a good guy.

[DuckIII]

I was more discussing when people slip from demanding job performance into forming personal opinions about the people involved.

To be fair, the Chicago Bulls Vice-President of Operations has physically assaulted a former coach over difference of opinion. He has also lashed out with tempter tantrums against various members of the Chicago Sports media over legit questions being asked of him. I think it's fair to say, that on a personal level, he's not a good guy.

I heard he’s disingenuous and concrete with necessarily uninformed judgments of others. A red flag.

[Dresden]

I was more discussing when people slip from demanding job performance into forming personal opinions about the people involved.

To be fair, the Chicago Bulls Vice-President of Operations has physically assaulted a former coach over difference of opinion. He has also lashed out with tempter tantrums against various members of the Chicago Sports media over legit questions being asked of him. I think it's fair to say, that on a personal level, he's not a good guy.

To be fair, MJ also "physically assaulted" a teammate during practice (and most likely more than once), and was a fierce competitor who would do almost anything to win. I'm not sure how MJ would do if he was constantly answering to the media the way Paxson has had to.

that said, is this really going to happen? Will there be major shake ups in the Bulls FO this offseason? That would mark a tremendous opportunity for the Bulls to make a fresh start if they do it correctly and I think would energize and excite all Bulls fans.

[Nucky Thompson]

Whatever, I don't like John Paxon. I think he's smug. He's defensive. He treats people that question the Bull's strategy like idiots. This is no Bill Bellieciek here. He hasn't earned that right.

[Nucky Thompson]

I was more discussing when people slip from demanding job performance into forming personal opinions about the people involved.

To be fair, the Chicago Bulls Vice-President of Operations has physically assaulted a former coach over difference of opinion. He has also lashed out with tempter tantrums against various members of the Chicago Sports media over legit questions being asked of him. I think it's fair to say, that on a personal level, he's not a good guy.

To be fair, MJ also "physically assaulted" a teammate during practice (and most likely more than once), and was a fierce competitor who would do almost anything to win. I'm not sure how MJ would do if he was constantly answering to the media the way Paxson has had to.

that said, is this really going to happen? Will there be major shake ups in the Bulls FO this offseason? That would mark a tremendous opportunity for the Bulls to make a fresh start if they do it correctly and I think would energize and excite all Bulls fans.

True but MJ brought in 6 rings. John Paxson has also accepted a leadership role in which he must respond professionally to questions.

By his own admission, he has a temper. A temper he repeatedly can't control. He was completely unprofessional just a year ago when he went off on the McNeil and Parkins show. They didn't ask any questions that were out of bounds. If he can't control this tempter than statements about his personal character are fair game. I disagree with the post by dougthonus that as fans, it's out of line for us to question his personal character.

[dice]

What successful method? Turning in your draft pick cards.

Zach is improving while GarPax are getting worse even from their low levels. Zach is no break from anything. In the Jimmy trade, he was a happenstance.

a happenstance that they gave a big contract to coming off major injury w/o having proved himself? "alright, he can still jump high. give him the money." that makes no damn sense. it's quite obvious that they saw him as a, if not THE, primary piece in the butler deal. it was a gamble on low IQ talent. just like drafting tyrus thomas was. the antithesis of the "paxson way." zach is just working out a bit better

People are trying to justify for whatever reason to bring up the good things Pax did....that shouldn't matter as he is largely unsuccessful.

unless you're judging success on titles, that is factually false. pax was a very successful GM until the tank...which was kickstarted by his trade for zach lavine

This is a great chance for Reinsdorf to be embarrassed

jerry reinsdorf does not embarrass

Yes success is judged by titles not mediocrity. Without lucking into Rose Paxson’s best constructed team would have a ceiling of the second round. That’s the definition of being average. Now he is just bad as the game and new era has passed him by.

false. derrick rose's injury cost this team further success. substitute any combination of players into rose's salary slot and this team likely sees at least one more ECF appearance, if not finals. hell, they SHOULD have beaten lebron's cavs in 2015, but derrick was bad in the series

but you're right. the payton/kemp sonics, the cavs of the '80s, barkley's suns, drexler's blazers, reggie's pacers, the knicks of the '90s and the stockton/malone jazz clubs were all mediocre. no titles for them!

[Southpaw]

I really enjoyed watching that hahahaha I hope it goes on through the weekend. The world needs to know how bad the Bulls have been.

[League Circles]

Lol karma? You act like picking the wrong players and coaches is some kind of moral failing.

Some of the opinions you read on this forum have become really warped due to the frustration.

Things that imply:
The front office is evil.
The front office doesn't want to win.
The front office doesn't care.
The front office isn't trying.

They may in fact be bad or need to be replaced, but almost everyone universally thought they had a great off season this year until the games started, and now they're ridiculously dumb again. It's just how sports works (and the same is true of the opinions of players as well and I'm sure I'm guilty of it too) but sometimes I take a step back and think it's really surreal how much people get dehumanized in these discussions so regularly.

Oh..! C'mon. Most of us know what the discussion is about. People bring up some extra things which have been reported such as Vinny's tie incident or bugging of Thibs's office etc. to add to their inability to put together a winning team.

We all know both are them are probably decent people. Sometimes, the words in forums don't come out the right way. It is about how ridiculous the Bulls situation is...that's the problem regardless of this year. This is not a one year problem but you are stretching some comments/opinions which are made in jest or in a different context.

Posters are smart....and they just disagree with your opinions but most are not like what you wrote.

Good post, I gotta admit this is true. Sometimes I take people's understandable hyperbole too literally and bitch at them unnecessarily. Hopefully we keep each other in check so to speak.

[randybrown]

Origin of GarPax Research


First usage I could find: viewtopic.php?f=10&t=901647&p=19358382&hilit=GarPax#p19358382

Prescient Post: viewtopic.php?f=10&t=905362&p=19521464&hilit=GarPax#p19521464

Notable Thread: viewtopic.php?f=10&t=906698&hilit=GarPax

I think "Fire GarPax" pre-dates Gar getting hired as GM.

Running RealGM 1st Dates
"GarPax" -- 4/30/2009 by ATRAIN53
"Fire GarPax" -- 5/17/2009 by transplant
"GarPaxDorf" -- 5/31/2009 by pduh01

[Michael Jackson]

It’s still Chicago

Most of those in attendance though won’t be from Chicago and if they are they are the rich people there for the social media photo op. They most likely don’t even know who Gar Forman is. We care the rest of the NBA can give a rats ass about the situation though. Paxson is not a more interesting conversation than say Giannis FA or actually any player out on the court even the lowly Devin Booker. Sabonis is more interesting than our front office.

It's a weekend loaded with stars from around the NBA and the hosting city has none in the game. No all-stars, no winning team, a bleak future and you think chants won't happen? Ok...

If it was a bulls crowd it would be. The problem it is most'y made up of Devin Bookers friends and family Zions Cousins etc and other NBA teams. The Bulls fans aren’t there. Season ticket holders don’t get seats. It’s an NBA event. I guarantee no one in Devin Bookers camp in attendance knows what’s going on with GarPax nor cares to chant about it.

[AshyLarrysDiaper]

Pax rubs me the wrong way. But I’m not ready to say he’s a bad person. This is what it looks like when people are left in roles they are so obviously failing at. They become hostile and dishonest. Cutting him loose would be a mercy killing.

[pwrshft99]

a happenstance that they gave a big contract to coming off major injury w/o having proved himself? "alright, he can still jump high. give him the money." that makes no damn sense. it's quite obvious that they saw him as a, if not THE, primary piece in the butler deal. it was a gamble on low IQ talent. just like drafting tyrus thomas was. the antithesis of the "paxson way." zach is just working out a bit better


unless you're judging success on titles, that is factually false. pax was a very successful GM until the tank...which was kickstarted by his trade for zach lavine


jerry reinsdorf does not embarrass

Yes success is judged by titles not mediocrity. Without lucking into Rose Paxson’s best constructed team would have a ceiling of the second round. That’s the definition of being average. Now he is just bad as the game and new era has passed him by.

false. derrick rose's injury cost this team further success. substitute any combination of players into rose's salary slot and this team likely sees at least one more ECF appearance, if not finals. hell, they SHOULD have beaten lebron's cavs in 2015, but derrick was bad in the series

but you're right. the payton/kemp sonics, the cavs of the '80s, barkley's suns, drexler's blazers, reggie's pacers, the knicks of the '90s and the stockton/malone jazz clubs were all mediocre. no titles for them!

I gotta disagree. The Bulls had no business landing the #1 pick that year. They are on record with almost taking Beasley over Rose. It was luck that got them to the ECF.

We started Roses MVP year with Bogans in the line up. By Christmas it was clear we had a chance. ANY move would have been an upgrade over what we had. The ONE year LeBron was vulnerable in Miami, Paxson stood pat.

[TheHrvReport]

I guess this is nice to see in a way but other than embarrassing GarPax, it really isn't doing much. The best way to expedite this and create change is stop going to the games all together and stop purchasing Bulls related products altogether. Seeing as were still top 10 in league attendance, I don't think this is really happening.

[dice]

Yes success is judged by titles not mediocrity. Without lucking into Rose Paxson’s best constructed team would have a ceiling of the second round. That’s the definition of being average. Now he is just bad as the game and new era has passed him by.

false. derrick rose's injury cost this team further success. substitute any combination of players into rose's salary slot and this team likely sees at least one more ECF appearance, if not finals. hell, they SHOULD have beaten lebron's cavs in 2015, but derrick was bad in the series

but you're right. the payton/kemp sonics, the cavs of the '80s, barkley's suns, drexler's blazers, reggie's pacers, the knicks of the '90s and the stockton/malone jazz clubs were all mediocre. no titles for them!

I gotta disagree. The Bulls had no business landing the #1 pick that year. They are on record with almost taking Beasley over Rose. It was luck that got them to the ECF.

We started Roses MVP year with Bogans in the line up. By Christmas it was clear we had a chance. ANY move would have been an upgrade over what we had. The ONE year LeBron was vulnerable in Miami, Paxson stood pat.

you missed the point. the luck that got us prime derrick on a cheap contract then flipped and cost us dearly when he then got injured and was being paid like a superstar. drafting derrick, while providing a short-term thrill, very likely cost the team wins in the long-run. if derrick isn't drafted by the bulls:

-we probably get waxed in the first round his rookie year. instead he gives us a thrilling 7 game loss. his coming out party in the league

-we probably don't make the playoffs his 2nd season. instead we got whooped by lebron's cavs in the 1st round

-we probably get spanked by the heat in the 2nd round instead of the ECF in derrick's MVP year

and that was the end of the derrick rose benefit in terms of end-of-season result. a total of 2 additional playoff series and a whole lot more excitement. but from that point forward he and his contract began costing us playoff series. for several seasons

p.s.: i have never heard that garpaxdorf was were seriously considering beasley over derrick, though it was the general consensus that the two were in the same range as prospects. got any reporting to back that up?

[dougthonus]

Oh..! C'mon. Most of us know what the discussion is about. People bring up some extra things which have been reported such as Vinny's tie incident or bugging of Thibs's office etc. to add to their inability to put together a winning team.

We all know both are them are probably decent people. Sometimes, the words in forums don't come out the right way. It is about how ridiculous the Bulls situation is...that's the problem regardless of this year. This is not a one year problem but you are stretching some comments/opinions which are made in jest or in a different context.

Posters are smart....and they just disagree with your opinions but most are not like what you wrote.

Nothing you said here is remotely related to what I wrote.

I qualified my statement to say that I behave the same way occasionally
I said it wasn't just about the FO but also about players and all sports
I never said it was everyone or the majority.
I was replying to someone specifically discussing the case where people confuse professional output and morality

[dougthonus]

True but MJ brought in 6 rings.

How many rings do you need to bring before assault is a problem?

I agree on the tie thing though as unacceptable, it would have been grounds for immediate dismissal if the Bulls wanted to go that way, but I don't think anyone is referencing this now 10 year old item when talking about these things today.

[AshyLarrysDiaper]

I guess this is nice to see in a way but other than embarrassing GarPax, it really isn't doing much. The best way to expedite this and create change is stop going to the games all together and stop purchasing Bulls related products altogether. Seeing as were still top 10 in league attendance, I don't think this is really happening.

Damaging the Bulls’ brand at a very-expensive-to-host event (that’s essentially about brand building) could very well be doing something. I think we should stop assuming GarPax is invulnerable to anything short of a direct withdrawal from Reinsdorf’s bank account. This stuff is adding up.

[DASMACKDOWN]

I think its just one of many points of peoples frustrations. re choking Vinny to sort of show that he is actually above accountability.
It essentially empowers that individual that they are invincible. So when Paxson says stuff like this, and even says he is accountable, he only makes other moves like he isn't the problem. This was 4 years ago.

Watch on YouTube

Im willing to bet that this is will be a carbon copy of what he will say again at the end of this season. 4 years later! Hence which makes the frustration grow.

[dice]

I guess this is nice to see in a way but other than embarrassing GarPax, it really isn't doing much. The best way to expedite this and create change is stop going to the games all together and stop purchasing Bulls related products altogether. Seeing as were still top 10 in league attendance, I don't think this is really happening.

Damaging the Bulls’ brand at a very-expensive-to-host event (that’s essentially about brand building) could very well be doing something. I think we should stop assuming GarPax is invulnerable to anything short of a direct withdrawal from Reinsdorf’s bank account. This stuff is adding up.

i'm not gonna say that these little protests don't have some small effect, but JR is more than aware that providing a good product on the court will have a positive effect on his bank account

[bullsnewdynasty]

The team has been poorly run since 2014. You can cut them slack for the Rose injury, but that was a really, really long time ago. I think you have to separate the Rose era from what happened since then, which is:

- Fired Thibs who was the 2nd most successful coach in team history
- Drafting started to get bad
- Questionable free agency moves
- 2 bad coaching hires along with a ridiculous Boylen extension

You can go whatever way you want on the Jimmy trade but remember that WITH Jimmy we were never better than .500 in a weak East. So I'm not sure how much more time they get given that we're 3 years into the rebuild and the FO expected to make the playoffs this year.