Chicago Bulls: 3 keys to surviving this disastrous season

2. Simply survive the Jim Boylen era

This may seem both simple and complex. For a Gregg Popovich disciple, Boylen has hardly shown the comprehension necessary for understanding today’s NBA player. Though he may be trying to instill a toughness and flash on his resume, what really matters for players is respect. Until the coach shows respect for the work players put in every day, what his resume says is meaningless.

Though it’s only been four games under the Boylen era, it might have been the most embarrassing week the franchise has ever gone through. Moving on from Hoiberg may have been necessary, but the timing wasn’t, and replacing him with Boylen was a mistake from the get-go.

The dysfunction within the organization continues to seep in from the front office, has made its way through the coaching staff and is now affecting the players. John Paxson and Gar Forman are directly responsible for this, though accountability for bad decisions is rare.

The Chicago Bulls, once a strong and storied franchise, have become a laughingstock of the league. Surviving the Jim Boylen era hopefully means they won’t suffer another franchise-record 56-point loss, a players revolt or double-digit losses to former bottom-dwellers who are now cracking jokes at the Bulls’ train wreck of a season.

Ideally, the Bulls would have given Boylen an interim tag and made him earn the permanent gig. Instead, they empowered him to be the drill sergeant that only made a bad situation worse. Now, GarPax is stuck with the coach for the rest of the season and that will make survival even tougher for this squad.