coach Jim Boylen has had a bizarre tenure in charge of the storied franchise. Initially appointed as interim coach after Fred Hoiberg was fired early in the 2018-19 season. He faced a near mutiny just a few weeks in and has been criticized from just about every possible angle in the time since.
During a Twitch stream on Monday, Bulls rookie Daniel Gafford joined the chorus of those with complaints about Boylen. While he said he wouldn't go so far as to hate on him, Gafford's comments made it clear that he hasn't been thrilled with his experience playing for Boylen -- both personally and professionally. As transcribed by 670 The Score:
"I'm going to answer this question, but I'm not going to read it out. As a matter of fact, I will read it out. 'Do you like Jim Boylen?' He aight. I don't like him a lot, but he OK. Got some things he can work on, got some things he can get better at as a person and as a coach. I'm not going to hate on him. I'm not going to hate the man."
It's rare to hear any player speaking that candidly about their coach in public, but especially a second-round pick who spent part of the season in the G League. The fact that Gafford was willing to criticize Boylen so openly, despite little in the way of job security, is another major indictment against the coach.
Boylen is 39-84 in his season-plus in charge of the Bulls, and with their campaign officially over after not being invited to the Disney World bubble, they've now missed the playoffs three seasons in a row. That's the longest playoff drought for the franchise since they missed out six seasons in a row following Michael Jordan's departure in 1998.
https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/bulls-rookie-daniel-gafford-says-jim-boylen-has-things-he-needs-to-work-on-as-a-person-and-coach/