Chicago Bulls shooting guard Zach LaVine took matters into his own hands after seeing the transition to a new culture under new coach Jim Boylen had gone haywire from the onset, as several veterans protested his two-and-a-half-hour practices and constant nitpicking of their choices on the court.
LaVine met with Boylen on Sunday after the latter had called a practice following a back-to-back slate, which only made a group of Bulls consider bailing on the practice altogether before showing up to settle affairs.
The 23-year-old didn't call his meeting to apologize but rather to “elaborate on thoughts” regarding Boylen's methods.
“You just want to be real with people,” LaVine told Malika Andrews of ESPN. “There shouldn't be any clouds. I think of myself as one of the leaders on the team. I just wanted to voice my opinion to them.”
“This is a business, this isn't a dictatorship. We are all grown men, so everybody has a voice.”
Despite early reports of two meetings being held at the Bulls' practice facility, there were actually three that took place that day. One a players' only meeting, then another involving president John Paxson and general manager Gar Foreman along with the coaches, then another one between LaVine and Boylen alone.
The idea of forming a leadership committee was discussed in the second meeting, which would serve as a liaison between the players and the coaches for the next time something of this magnitude happened.
Boylen expressed to reporters Monday that he did not intend to hold a grueling practice on Sunday, but rather a light one based on film, urging the team to trust his ability to “manage their legs” after a back-to-back scenario.
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