Bulls Rookie Daniel Gafford Had The Backhanded Compliment/Insult Of All-Time About Coach Jim Boylen

Jim Boylen hasn’t made the biggest fans out of the Bulls locker room. He’s had illogical rotations and boneheaded moves and has publicly sparred with players over treating them like a high school team. Despite all that, it seems like he has the chance to survive the bizarre 2020 season with his job intact.

But is that the wisest move? Probably not. And this quote from Bulls rookie big man Daniel Gafford from Chicago’s 670 The Score reveals a big reason why:

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“I’m going to answer this question, but I’m not going to read it out. As a matter of fact, I will read it out. ‘Do you like Jim Boylen?’ He aight. I don’t like him a lot, but he’s 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.”

And Daniel Gafford THROWS IT DOWN with the passive aggression:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B5y5VKapXE4/

I don’t blame Daniel Gafford, per se. I’m a straight-shooter type, too, and if someone asks you something, it’s hard to lie like a politician in response.

That said, this Bulls organization may very well continue to be incompetent even with a new GM and head of basketball operations. And if that incompetency, or just inflexibility from the 2020 situation, leads to Jim Boylen returning for the lottery team NBA bubble and maybe the 2020-21 season? You know, a certain drill-sergeant coach whose name rhymes with Dim Soilin’ who’ll undeniably hold a grudge, especially with other young big men to play. If I were playing the game within the game, I might be a bit more Littlefinger from Game of Thrones, maybe compliment Boylen in the chance he does come back.

But hey, Daniel Gafford kept it real and I won’t begrudge that (even if he had to talk himself into not hating Jim Boylen by the end of the quote). He better be ready to run extra suicides and maybe have to do bear crawls or climb a rope like a vintage gym class to pay penance if Jim Boylen is back. A small price and pointless to pay for honesty.

(h/t For The Win)