Wojnarowski: Drama Not Affecting Bulls Players
(CBS) Amid the well-documented tension between the Bulls front office and coach Tom Thibodeau, there's one group that's handled the high drama better than any other.
The Bulls players.
With a 1-0 series lead over the Cavaliers entering Wednesday night's Game 2, the Bulls have done their job on the floor, as much of a roller-coaster season as it has been. And with it all on the line, the players won't be distracted by the speculation swirling around the coaching future of Thibodeau, Yahoo! Sports NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski said -- in large part because this has been the modus operandi for several years.
"They're very well locked in," Wojnarowski said on the Mully and Hanley Show on Wednesday morning, one day after he published an article that addressed Thibodeau's future.
"Anyone's who's around any of them for any length of time, inside the Bulls facility, outside the Bulls facility, when Tom Thibodeau and management have to be together in certain situations, it's very tangible tension that everybody feels. It's been going on. It's not new.
"This is just the state of how it's gone here with the Bulls really over the past couple of years.
"They have a mature group."
In his article Tuesday, Wojnarowski reported that a Bulls assistant coach avoided talking about drama with a visiting scout at the Bulls' facility because he feared his office was bugged. Whether that was the case wasn't the point, but it was symbolic.
"That's the level of paranoia that exists in the building every day and has for some time now," Wojnarowski said.
Wojnarowski stressed the Bulls have a great opportunity and the importance of big man Pau Gasol.
"You have to give Gar Forman and John Paxson a lot of credit for the team that they've put together through trades and the draft and free agency, getting Pau Gasol this offseason," Wojnarowski said. "During the playoffs, (I) was talking to R.C. Buford, the Spurs GM, about Pau, and they tried really hard to get Pau Gasol. And think of the impact that would've had in the league this year, if Pau Gasol goes to San Antonio instead of Chicago -- a tremendous swing of events. Gasol's been huge for them, and you saw what he did for the Bulls again in Game 1. But this group wants to win."
