Wednesday night, after the Chicago Bulls took a particularly demoralizing loss at the hands of the Atlanta Hawks, blowing a 10-minute lead with 3 minutes left, Dwyane Wade and Jimmy Butler were fed up. The Bulls’ two stars publicly criticized their teammates and questioned their effort.
"I wish I could say that everyone in here is going to go home and not eat tonight," said Wade, who had 33 points. "I can’t say that. I wish I could, but I don’t know that they care enough. Games are supposed to hurt. You’re not supposed to sleep. You’re not supposed to want to talk to anybody. These games are supposed to hurt. I don’t know if that is in guys in this locker room. Hopefully they can prove me wrong, but I will challenge them to see if losses like this hurt."
Butler, who had 40, was even more transparent.
"Motherfuckers just got to care if we win or lose," Butler said. "At the end of the day, do whatever it takes to help the team win. You play your role to the tee. Be a star in your role, man. That’s how you win in this league, man. You have to embrace what this team, what this organization needs for you to do on either end of the floor. On top of everything else, just play every possession like it’s your last. We don’t play hard all the time. It’s very disappointing whenever we don’t play hard."
Point guard Rajon Rondo wasn’t going to just sit there and take the criticism. He fired back Thursday with a long Instagram post.
Rondo praised his former teammates Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, who played alongside him on the 2008 champion Boston Celtics. Rondo never directly addressed Wade and Butler, but instead sent a caption dripping with some of the most obvious shade you’ll ever see.
“My vets would never go to the media," Rondo wrote. "They would come to the team. My vets didn't pick and choose when they wanted to bring it. They brought it every time they stepped in the gym whether it was practice or a game. They didn't take days off. My vets didn't care about their numbers. My vets played for the team. When we lost, they wouldn't blame us. They took responsibility and got in the gym. They showed the young guys what it meant to work. Even in Boston when we had the best record in the league, if we lost a game, you could hear a pin drop on the bus. They showed us the seriousness of the game. My vets didn't have an influence on the coaching staff. They couldn't change the plan because it didn't work for them. I played under one of the greatest coaches, and he held everyone accountable. It takes 1-15 to win. When you isolate everyone, you can't win consistently. I may be a lot of things, but I'm not a bad teammate. My goal is to pass what I learned along. The young guys work. They show up. They don't deserve blame. If anything is questionable, it's the leadership."
Ahh, the sweet sight of team chemistry.
The Bulls (23-24) are barely clinging to the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference. If they were to hold onto that position, Wade would face former teammate LeBron James and his Cavaliers in the first round of the playoffs.
But don’t be surprised if things get shaken up in Chicago. The trade deadline (Feb. 23) is looming, and clearly, the current roster configuration isn't working.
