Bulls give head coach Jim Boylen extension and raise despite bumpy start to tenure
The start to the Jim Boylen Era has been rocky to say the least for the Chicago Bulls.
Boylen’s players contacted the NBA Players Association less than a week into his tenure because they felt he was being too tough with over-the-top workouts. They considered boycotting a practice after back-to-back games and were insulted when he subbed out an entire lineup at once. The Bulls have only been 5-13 under his watch — only a slight uptick from 5-19 under Fred Hoiberg.
Still, that was enough for owner Jerry Reinsdorf to keep him around. On Saturday, the Chicago Sun-Times reported that the Bulls will extend Boylen’s contract through the 2019-20 season and give him a raise.
The Bulls fired Hoiberg in early December and promoted Boylen from associate head coach. Boylen was scheduled to make just over $800,000 for this season, but according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, he is now scheduled to make $1.6 million, although only $1 million of that is guaranteed, in case the Bulls go in a different direction.
Reinsdorf is still on the hook for the remainder of Hoiberg’s $5 million annual salary for this season and next, so it does seem unlikely that the owner will want to eat even more money to bring on an extra coach. Boylen may not be the world’s best coach, but he will certainly be among the cheapest.
The Bulls currently sit tied with the New York Knicks for the second-worst record in the East and third-worst overall. The team’s drama has cooled off lately, but the Bulls have lost six straight, including a 146-109 drubbing at Golden State on Friday.
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