Bulls news: Coby White being held by Jim Boylen, claims Kendrick Perkins

For NBA player-turned-analyst Kendrick Perkins, Chicago Bulls young guard Coby White has infinite potential but their coach Jim Boylen held him back.

Perkins responded to a tweet that asked who among Coby White, Tyler Herro, RJ Barrett or Rui Hachimura will be the best among the lot. Perkins chose White, noting that Boylen was a hindrance to his development.

Coby White is a Problem…Jim Boylen was holding him back. https://t.co/1cckLU2PxO

— Kendrick Perkins (@KendrickPerkins) July 9, 2020

During the 2019-20 regular season, Boylen received ample criticism for not opting to insert White into the starting line up despite his obvious talent. Bulls fans slammed Boylen for this move.

Asked on what his motivations are for benching White, Boylen simply claimed that he liked “what he's doing for us right now coming off the bench.”

I just asked Jim Boylen the pros and cons of starting Coby White. Here's his answer. (Shoutout to @JamalCollier for the follow-up.) pic.twitter.com/HfbD2e3niS

— Darnell Mayberry (@DarnellMayberry) February 11, 2020

In 65 games (1 start), White averaged 13.2 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 2.7 assists across 25.8 minutes per game. At one point, White was even playing 33 minutes per contest. Note that these are starter-level minutes which confused Bulls fans even more.

Also, Boylen kept White on the floor to close out games. More pressure was placed on Boylen after White won the Eastern Conference rookie of the month for February.

Days before the 2019-20 season was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, Boylen backpedalled on his stance. This time, he finally thought of starting White.

‘‘Well, I think the biggest thing is this is the next stage in his development,’’ Boylen said of White, per the Chicago Sun-Times. ‘‘He’s earned this opportunity. He’s grown into this opportunity. And we’ll take it a game at a time and coach him the same way we’ve been coaching him. I’m excited for him.

As implied by Perkins' tweet, this is a very late adjustment for a young player with great potential. But perhaps the good thing for White is that he has lots of time to develop. He's just 20-years-old.