Report: Taj Gibson's not thrilled about going back to the bench
CSN Chicago reports that Bulls forward Taj Gibson isn't happy with the fact he's probably headed back to the bench this season after the Bulls' acquisition of Pau Gasol.
Privately, Gibson isn’t too thrilled with the prospect of continuing to be a reserve, according to multiple people familiar with the situation, but the upbeat, team-first player values winning and chemistry too much to make it an issue or distraction. Furthermore, being an underdog his entire basketball career, it could serve as motivation and help him thrive, building upon last year’s bounce-back campaign and improvement as a scorer, which came after a disappointing, injury-riddled season immediately following a long-term contract extension with the Bulls on Halloween 2012.
via Bulls: Taj Gibson remains underrated, crucial to success | CSN Chicago.
Gibson's not going to make a thing out of it, that's not what he does. But Gibson's yet another example of "how far can the Bulls push a guy." They drafted him, wouldn't start him, signed him at a discount he gave to be part of a winning team, wouldn't start him, then signed an aging guy to be the upgrade at his position and drafted a shooter forward.
And yet, Gibson will go back and play nice, because he really is committed to doing the right thing. The only complaints you'll hear out of Gibson about this were the ones leaked to CSN Chicago. After that, he'll be back to mild-mannered. But at the same time, Gibson should be more up front. He's produced in a big way for Chicago. Some respect is reasonable to ask for.
Then again, this may not be an issue given how many injury issues Pau Gasol has had over the years and his increasing age.
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