The NBA bubble is going strong and will stick around for a while.
So, apparently, will Jim Boylen.
For three consecutive weeks, the Orlando bubble has held.
Of the 343 players tested in the latest round made public, there were zero cases of the coronavirus that shut down the league — as well as the entire sports world — back in March.
A win-win … for 22 teams.
The eight teams out? Not so much.
The idea of the “Chicago 8’’ bubble has all but popped, while the hope of the NBA even granting the eight teams a special September mini-camp/scrimmage opportunity is now on life support, according to multiple reports.
Not the kind of news that new Bulls executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas was hoping to hear.
A second bubble was going to allow Karnisovas the much-needed opportunity to evaluate head coach Boylen directly, not only in games, but game prep, practice, and film sessions. The fair and “deliberate’’ assessment Karnisovas insisted on having.
But as the Sun-Times learned this week, even if Karnisovas didn’t like what he would have seen from Boylen he would likely be handcuffed from making a change.
According to several sources, there is strong growing momentum that financial concerns the Reinsdorfs have about the 2020-21 NBA season will keep Boylen in his current seat, as well as most of the coaching staff.
So that “players first’’ motto that Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley were touting several months ago? Well, money just pushed it aside and cut in the front of the line.
A small slap in the face to several Bulls players, and definitely a large slap to a very vocal Bulls fan base.
Playing the strapped-for-cash card when the franchise is valued at $3.2 billion is a hard pill to swallow.
Somewhat of a jagged one at that, considering Karnisovas seemed poised to move on from Boylen and several members of the staff his first month on the job in the wake of getting some negative feedback from key Bulls players.
Karnisovas and Eversley were even in the process of using back channels to reach out to Philadelphia assistant coach Ime Udoka and Toronto assistant Adrian Griffin as possible replacements, according to multiple NBA scouts.
What changed?
The fact that chairman Jerry Reinsdorf said in a July USA Today story his financial losses with the Bulls, White Sox and United Center were somewhere in the “nine figures’’ range obviously painted an ugly picture.
Then add in the uncertainty about the 2020-21 NBA season, and suddenly Boylen’s .317 winning percentage doesn’t look so bad to the Reinsdorfs.
Does the situation remain fluid? Absolutely, especially with the NBA still weighing different scenarios for next year. Three of them involve a December tip-off to the season, while one plan includes starting in March if the NBA feels they can get fans in the arena by then, as well as not lose personnel and viewership to the Summer Olympics.
The big winner in this besides Boylen? The Reinsdorfs, who have not only backed Boylen getting another season, but can continue paying him a $1.6 million salary, keeping him one of the lowest-paid coaches in the league.
As far as upsetting the Bulls fan base even further? Jerry Reinsdorf has never cared what fans say on talk radio, social media or in their own houses. Empty seats catch his attention, but if the NBA doesn’t allow fans in the arena next season there’s no empty seats to count, no boos to hear.
Meanwhile, like he did when the old front office regime was first being torn down, a source indicated that Boylen remains confident that the coaching job will be his moving forward, and that he will prove to his bosses that he is the right choice for the job.
The Orlando bubble isn’t the only thing seemingly made of teflon these days.
