The Chicago Bulls opened the season on Wednesday night with a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. They suffered a brutal 20-point loss, falling 124-104 to an up-and-coming Thunder squad, and needless to say, it wasn’t received well by the players once they got back into the locker room.
Head coach Billy Donovan revealed after the game that when he arrived at the locker room, Bulls players were already having intense discussions. He asked them if he should leave, and when they accepted, he did. Just one game into their 2023-24 campaign, the Bulls had to have a players-only meeting immediately following the loss.
However, according to Donovan, this sort of confrontation is a good thing.
“That would’ve never happened last year. It would’ve been a quiet group,” Donovan said via NBC Sports Chicago. “So the confrontation piece is a sign that it’s important to them. And they know we’ve got to be better.”
He noted that this year’s Bulls are going to embrace conflict as a means to improve and push forward.
We’ll have to see how it pans out, but for now, the Bulls are in a tricky spot.
