The Chicago Bulls Basically Boycotted Practice A Day After Finishing Off A Back-To-Back With A 56 Point Loss To The Celtics

Well @VinceGoodwill with the juiciest of details from @YahooSports ... A player potentially fining his teammates if they showed up to practice.... and they agreed. Well then, tonight should be fun. https://t.co/aK3tnpBc7k pic.twitter.com/wrKm0DprcO

— Bulls Scripted (@BullScripted) December 10, 2018

Per multiple sources, players started a group text exchange debating whether to show up at practice facility today. They ultimately decided to show up and told coaching staff they wanted players only meeting, which was followed by the meeting with coaches.

— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) December 9, 2018

My goodness. https://t.co/hM3nPtwGpG pic.twitter.com/EwvZ6x1peU

— Jason Patt (@Bulls_Jay) December 10, 2018

Yahoo Sources with @ChrisBHaynes: Bulls players went to NBPA about Jim Boylen's practice tactics and plans to practice the day following back to back games https://t.co/mhyhX2sJ4R pic.twitter.com/5KbKVuIZR8

— Vincent Goodwill (@VinceGoodwill) December 10, 2018

What a story. I almost don't even have the words to express how I feel about an NBA player threatening to fine his own damn teammates, whatever that even means, if they showed up to work a day after the entire organization embarrassed themselves on the job. That's partially because it's nothing short of patently ridiculous, but it's also because I'm gasping for breath laughing at the type of messages that might have been exchanged in this JV-esque group chat amongst pissed off pros.

Now, I do think there is something to be said about treating players like professionals, and for an interim coach like Jim Boylen to repeatedly run a bad Bulls' team into the hardwood while they were still in the process of peeling themselves off of it wouldn't exactly have build up any mutual respect. I certainly understand the team's frustration, because if a lack of conditioning cost them 2+ hours of sprints and suicides then Lord only knows what type of torturous treatment they would have received on the heels of a 50+ point loss...

For the 2nd time in 3 days, Jim Boylen paced the Bulls through a 2-hour-plus practice, including film.

Did we mention there were line drills?

“We’re old school. There’s no shortcut to conditioning. We’re going to do it every day.”https://t.co/dZ91Q2a03G via @KCJHoop pic.twitter.com/KJe5hxKDHZ

— Amanda Kaschube (@amandakaschube) December 6, 2018

Unfortunately, there's also something to be said about demanding professional treatment through your actions. I hate to break this to the Bulls, but coming damn close to organizing a passive aggressive coup from the comfort of their own couches doesn't exactly paint a picture of maturity. Going straight to the NBPA with a complaint about insane practice habits before even confronting your interim coach men-to-man sort of makes me think they should run baseline-to-baseline until they find some damn discipline. 

The truth is, both parties were laughably wrong in how they either went about things or planned to go about things, and yet neither of them are the most guilty party in an organization whose dysfunction drivels from the top down. Literally all of this idiocy is a byproduct of an entirely mismanaged franchise. Therefore, while I don't think it can realistically get any worse than players refusing to practice after losing by half a hundo, it's probably not getting all that much better any time soon. Especially is Jim Boylen really is sticking with the "management of fear" approach even after the Bulls got murdered and mocked by the team they took over for as the NBA's most flammable tire fire...

"These jobs are about managing everybody's fear." Jim Boylen this afternoon on the Bulls' practice drama.https://t.co/GBX1aNPaQ9 pic.twitter.com/g7cPXSknMI

— Bulls Talk (@NBCSBulls) December 11, 2018

Kings players walking back to the locker room have obviously been reading Chicago papers - "Uh-oh, another 2 1/2-hour practice for them tomorrow" one of them yelled.

— Sun-Times Basketball (@suntimes_hoops) December 11, 2018