Bulls' Daniel Gafford Cleared Air With Jim Boylen After Offseason Critique

Gafford calls public criticism of Jim Boylen 'constructive' originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago

Like the ball, videotape don't lie.

And here's what Daniel Gafford said to the world about Jim Boylen back in July while addressing fan questions on Twitch as he played video games. 

"He aight," Gafford said, using slang for "all right." "I don't like him a lot, but he OK. Got some things he can work on. Got some things he can get better at as a person and as a coach. I’m not going to hate on him. I’m not going to hate the man. But, you know."

At the time, Boylen still coached the Bulls. Billy Donovan does now. And so Gafford was asked if he talked to Boylen after that incident on a Zoom media availability session Saturday.

"I had contact with Jim, just made sure I cleared the air that it wasn’t anything intentional, that I was just trying to bash him or anything like that. It was nothing like that at all. Whenever it happened, I just basically let it come out. I wasn’t meaning anything too mean or anything like that. Everybody was saying, ‘Oh, I’m bashing him. I’m being mean. I’m just talking down on him.’ That was just basically constructive criticism in my opinion," Gafford said. "I mean, everybody has their own opinion about what I said. But what I was meaning was constructive. Jim was a great coach when he was here. He did what he could. And he worked his tail off for the team.

"When he called, I was just letting him know that was basically just talking about life in general. Everybody can work on themselves on and off the floor. That’s nothing to take and run with and make it seem like you’re trying to bash somebody. Like I said, it was just constructive criticism. I didn’t mean anything wrong about it. I wasn’t going at him at all."

Regardless, the comments did little to dispel the notion that Boylen alienated some players last season. Thad Young, who privately demanded a larger role earlier in the season, said the widespread changes that also included the hiring of Artūras Karnišovas and Marc Eversley in a completely revamped front office has resulted in a new energy this season.

"For them to make all these changes that they did in such a short period of time is huge for the franchise, and not only the franchise but the players," Young said. "We all believe in this new group that’s in here with us."

Young was equally complimentary of Boylen, former executive vice president John Paxson and former general manager Gar Forman when they aggressively targeted him in free agency last summer. But Young grew disenchanted with his lot, which not only featured fewer minutes but also a more perimeter-based role.

"I think a lot of guys within this franchise just needed a fresh start with a fresh face, and just a new voice, something different that they can look forward to each and every day. You know, different opinions, different mindset, but also with certain goals at hand," Young said. "What Marc and AK bring is they bring a winning attitude. Same thing with Billy; he has a great track record of winning basketball games and has a great track record with his players. He’s done a great job so far of just coming in and telling us what he needs out of us.

"We had a meeting (Friday) and he took time to really sit down as a team and tell us, ‘These are the things we need to do to win basketball games, and these are the things we need to do in order to fight through this thing.’ I think he’s done a great job so far.’’

Both Karnišovas and Eversley talked about creating a player-first organization and emphasized they'd be hands-on in trying to cultivate the atmosphere. They weren't kidding.

"They’re very precise on what they want to do. I think what I like about them is they’re fully in it with us as an organization, as a franchise but in it with us as far as coming to practice, hanging out with us in the training room, talking to us. Sometimes Marc and Artūras are in there lifting (weights)," Young said. "They’re very different than most of the guys in the front office. They actually are around the team and they kind of hang out with us and we have conversations all the time. We’re able to sit there and talk with them and joke with them a lot and build that relationship. That’s what I like about it.”

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