While the Chicago Bulls have had an unforgiving past week full of attention for all the wrong reasons, things may finally be in recovery mode for the Bulls locker room. Reportedly, the entire team held a meeting earlier this morning during the aftermath of Rajon Rondo’s Instagram post bashing the leadership of Jimmy Butler and free agent addition Dwyane Wade.
The meeting served as a forum for the players to get all of their opinions on the recent drama out, and by the end, we hope Chicago came out a more united and positive team. Long-time Bull Taj Gibson said the younger players on the team wanted to see Dwyane Wade practice more, who is frequently limited due to his 35-year-old body and previous injuries. Following from ESPN’s Nick Friedell:
“Young guys just want a little bit more from him,” Gibson said Saturday after the Bulls practiced at the Advocate Center. “He brung it today. He pushed the young guys. And that’s a sign that that meeting did a little something. It’s all about positive. We’re not trying to have any negative aspects, anything like that. We got everybody against us right now. The only people who are going to help us out of this is ourselves. And we understand that. And [John Paxson] said it in the meeting yesterday, too.”
As we all know, Wade is currently playing on his own schedule, similar to how he did during his last couple seasons with the Miami Heat. He calls the shots as to when he sits out practice and head coach Fred Hoiberg usually doesn’t have him playing in the second night of back-to-backs anyway.
The frustration from the younger Bulls is certainly understandable. Coming up in this league, you want your vets to epitomize leadership and lead using example, simultaneously laying the foundation of hard work for the organization. It’s tough enough to succeed in today’s NBA but when the leadership is questionable to begin with, the task seems even more daunting. At least after the meeting, it seems this whole saga is finally behind them and they can go back to playing quality basketball.
