Chicago Bulls: Jim Boylen is the worst coach in team history
Reason #1: Boylen completely unwilling to adapt
One narrative that’s followed the Bulls around this season is the fact that Boylen can’t change his gameplan or strategy to match his opponent. He has “Old-school” ideals that don’t seem to mesh with today’s players.
Among the noted strategies that Boylen is unwilling to change is his philosophy on offense as well as his theory on timeouts late in the game. Despite multiple instances of these things costing Bulls games and upsetting players, not much has changed.
The one Bulls coach that I think could give Boylen a run for his money as worst ever is Tim Floyd. Floyd was named the coach of the team in 1998, fresh off of the Bulls second three-peat under the great Phil Jackson.
"I want to know when that flipped and that became old school and not the way it should be."@chicagobulls head coach Jim Boylen hears the critics, but told @TermineRadio and Ryan McDonough that he's not worried about what people say about his coaching style.#SummerLeague pic.twitter.com/6l0Hs3uS0A
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) July 8, 2019
After it was made clear that Jackson wasn’t returning as head coach, legend Michael Jordan announced his retirement from the NBA for the second time. The roster was gutted and Floyd was left to pick up the pieces.
Floyd finished 49-190 after four seasons with the Bulls, including a franchise-worst 15-67 finish in 2000-2001. He had a tough time getting anything going after Jerry Krause completely drained the roster of high-level players.
Despite Floyd making some adjustments, the roster talent just wasn’t there for him to have any success. Floyd admitted he “Wasn’t very good” at being an NBA coach. That level of humility and self-awareness is something that Boylen severely lacks.
One issue that Floyd had which ultimately led to his exit from Chicago was disagreements with multiple players. That’s something Boylen knows all about.