After the Chicago Bulls’ first game of the season, a 124-104 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, head coach Billy Donovan spoke to the media before his team. He came to the press room and revealed that the players kicked him out of the locker room so they could talk amongst themselves.
Donovan referred to it as a “players-only meeting,” which spurred criticism and conversation in NBA circles. Everyone from media to fans took note of Chicago’s immediate failures, mocking the fact they had to have a players-only meeting just one day into the season. But Donovan’s statement may not have been fully true.
Zach LaVine recently told Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports that Donovan may have been confused. Because they didn’t have a team meeting.
“A team meeting is when guys collectively call themselves in and talk about things,” LaVine said. “We didn’t have a team meeting, I think it’s a basketball conversation.”
LaVine emphasized that just because the players spoke to each other doesn’t mean it was a meeting, and Donovan may have gotten mixed up.
“You get your a** kicked on the first day and we’re having conversations from top to bottom,” LaVine said. “If we don’t want the coaches in there while we are talking, that’s not a team meeting, it’s players talking amongst ourselves. I don’t know if coach got that misunderstood or not.”
A debate can be had as to whether or not the players actually had a meeting, but LaVine clearly doesn’t think so, and the troubles in Chicago are looking more real than ever.
