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The Chicago Bulls didn't start the season opener the way they wanted, losing to the Oklahoma City Thunder by 20 points. After the game, conversations in the locker room between the players were happening, and the players asked head coach Billy Donovan if they could continue talking, as Donovan explained via NBCSBulls.
"I don't know if was a team meeting… They were in there talking, I walked in and they did say, 'Coach can we talk?' And I said, 'sure' and I left."
Bulls coach Billy Donovan on the
players only meeting after losing to the Thunder.(via @NBCSBulls)
pic.twitter.com/cZ60HxyVuj— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) October 26, 2023
Donovan clarified that it wasn't necessarily a players-only meeting after the first game of the season, but that the players wanted more time to finish their discussion between themselves after the game.
More details from what happened post-game emerged, from Chicago Tribune reporter Julia Poe.
Billy Donovan says when he walked into the Bulls locker room tonight, players were already in heated conversations.
He asked if they wanted him to leave to handle conflict. Players said yes, so he did.
Donovan emphasized that embracing conflict is key for this year’s roster.
— Julia Poe (@byjuliapoe) October 26, 2023
While this account is slightly different from what Donovan told the media, it all boils down to essentially the same thing. The players wanted space to continue talking things out, and Donovan allowed that.
Bulls embracing conflict this season
While it's perhaps not great optics after the season opener for something like this to happen, especially with Donovan already on the hot seat in Chicago, Donovan's emphasis on embracing conflict has plenty of logic behind it. Team chemistry can quickly go down the drain when players talk behind each other's backs, or let grievances fester without addressing it.
The Bulls have a veteran team that should be able to air out their problems in order to work towards solutions, and it's a strategy that could help Chicago in the long run. The Bulls underachieved by finishing below .500 last season, and heated conversations after a 20-point loss show that the players don't want to head down the same path this season.
Whether or not the heated conversations and the Bulls embracing conflict leads to more wins remains to be seen, but
