Commish wants Bulls to solve own problems
MEXICO CITY — NBA commissioner Adam Silver admitted he has been watching the chaos around the Bulls from afar during the last week.
And afar is where he wanted himself and the league to stay as things continued to play out Thursday.
‘‘In terms of the Chicago Bulls specifically, I’m very careful not to get involved in the operation of any particular team,’’ Silver said when he was asked about several players being disgruntled enough with what they deemed a tough practice schedule to contact the union.
‘‘I don’t know firsthand about a player who did or didn’t call the [National Basketball] Players Association. I read the story. I do know about it, but no one called me to complain. The Players Association hasn’t talked to us.
‘‘I accept, though, that in a group of young men who are playing, there may be a difference in view occasionally in terms of when players should be practicing and how hard they should be working. But generally those issues are worked out by teams. And I read some of the comments that have come back from Bulls management, their coach, and there seems to be a meeting of the minds.’’
The Bulls’ spiral started with the firing of then-coach Fred Hoiberg and the promotion of assistant Jim Boylen on Dec. 3. Then a victory last Friday against the Thunder was followed by a franchise-record 56-point loss Saturday to the Celtics.
Several players thought Boylen was unfair in criticizing their toughness, as well as in calling for another practice after the back-toback games. That led to talk of a mutiny, the NBA being contacted and the formation of a leadership committee to start the healing.
The way Silver sees it now, all is calm and the organization has moved toward a good place.
‘‘Again, especially when a new coach comes in midseason, that coach may have a different way of doing things than the prior coach,’’ Silver said. ‘‘I think these great players in the NBA, they have lots of different coaches over their careers . . . and there are different styles. I will say there are rules set up in the collective-bargaining agreement in terms of practice times and days off. No one has suggested to me that any of those rules have been violated.
‘‘Again, I’m so confident that teams know how to work through these issues and don’t require the league to step in.’’
A man down
Just when the Bulls were moving toward full health, the altitude of Mexico City grabbed another player.
Before the game against the Magic, Boylen said rookie Chandler Hutchison was hit by illness and wouldn’t play.
Details of the illness weren’t disclosed, but the Bulls’ traveling party had at least three people hit by what was called ‘‘altitude sickness,’’ and Hutchison might have become the fourth.
Antonio Blakeney took Hutchison’s spot on the roster.
Staying the course
Point guard Kris Dunn and big man Bobby Portis played in their second games since returning from knee injuries, and both came off the bench again.
Boylen said Dunn is expected to take back his starting job soon, but he still is trying to figure out how to juggle all of his big men with Portis back in the fold.