Is the Chicago Bulls’ reputation at stake?
The Chicago Bulls have longed been plagued with a poor reputation among the popular circles of the NBA. That will need to change if the Bulls are going to accomplish their long-term goals.
Dating back to the end of the Michael Jordan days, the Chicago Bulls have been hindered by a poor reputation among the popular circles of the NBA.
The Bulls’ poor reputation as an organization is one of the main reasons why the team was unable to land Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, or LeBron James in the summer of 2010. Fast forward to today and Wade is a member of the Bulls’ organization but has the Bulls’ reputation around the NBA improved?
More from Da Windy City
- Juan Soto appears headed to the Yankees which is not a big blow Chicago Cubs offseason
- 3 takeaways from Chicago Blackhawks shootout loss to Nashville
- Chicago Cubs in the middle of chaos that is Shohei Ohtani’s free agency
- The Chicago Cubs are on a roller coaster of emotions chasing Shohei Ohtani
- Chicago Bears quietly compiling list of head coaching candidates
One of the main reasons why the signing of Wade was important for the Bulls is because having a superstar like the Chicago native would go a long way towards repairing the team’s reputation around the league. Throughout the summer and the early months of the 2016-2017 NBA regular season, Wade would speak glowingly about the Bulls as well as the city of Chicago.
But, the events over the course of the past month has raised the question of whether the Bulls’ reputation has improved.
First, there was the benching of point guard Rajon Rondo. Rondo never really received a clear reason from Bulls’ head coach Fred Hoiberg for why he was benched and that led to a media circus.
Then, last week, Wade and Jimmy Butler openly criticized players within the Bulls’ locker room. Because of the comments from Wade and Butler, Rondo shared a lengthy post on Instagram that openly questioned the leadership of Wade and Butler. The consequences were that Butler, Rondo, and Wade were all fined by the Bulls. In addition, Butler and Wade were benched for the beginning portions of team’s game on Friday.
The Bulls are an embarrassment. Hoiberg is a head coach that is best suited for college and not capable of handling a NBA locker room. Butler realizes that his head coach is in over his head and despises him for it. Wade is trying to be an inspirational leader but struggling because of his part-time schedule. Rondo, well, Rondo has always been a head case. Meanwhile, the only thing that John Paxson and Gar Forman do is express their disappointment in the drama being leaked to the public.
Related Story: Is the criticism of Dwyane Wade warranted?
For a team that was on the right track in signing Wade and using the popular veteran to land another superstar player this summer, the Bulls have fallen directly on their face. The Chicago Bulls have the reputation of a laughing stock right now and that is a serious problem for their long-term future.