57 Comments
User's avatar
Chi-Fed's avatar

Billy needs to leave now before his reputation gets further damaged. I don’t think many college teams would be excited about hiring a coach that goes 25-57 in the NBA which would about where the Bulls would finish next season.

thekiltedwonder's avatar

I think you underestimate how highly Billy is thought of in college circles. He took Florida to four Final Fours, three title games, and two championships. Florida had been to one Final Four in its history prior to Billy's arrival (by a coach who promptly jumped ship, I might add).

He also pointed UF's Athletic Director towards Todd Golden, as a potential hire, when UF showed Mike White the door (aka find another job before we have to fire you). So he is up to date on what makes a great college coach in the current climate.

TheArtistFormerlyKnownAsJB's avatar

This is starting to sound like something that’s going to happen.

Maybe he waits until the lottery in case the Bulls get lucky.

But otherwise, what exactly would he be sticking around for? Drafting Nate Ament and paying Collin Sexton after striking out on every top RFA? Seems unlikely.

And let’s not forget this crucial piece of context: AK is a selfish jackass. He fired his shooting coach last year for not being a yes man. It sounds like he’s throwing Eversley under the bus this year. What’s to stop him from doing that to Billy next year? I wouldn’t blame Donovan for getting the hell out of here before that happens.

Michael Tulig's avatar

How do you know so much? Do you know the motivations for a fact or are you imputing or projecting ... or repeating someone else's theories? As to Billy, I doubt if UNC holds the HC position open that long or if he's that transactional to try to wait until after the lottery. I think we'll find out in a few weeks.

Michael Tulig's avatar

All reprehensible "journalism":

As we know ...

His team sucks ... sabotaged by ... the front office not bolstering the back-end of the roster ...

... it’s on Billy to face questions derogatory of the franchise whether they lose ... or win ...

... the dogshit rosters he’s been given ...

... we know ... there’s no way AK can effectively articulate (a plan).

... an NBA team ... losing a head coach to the college ranks is an embarrassment.

...ownership ... they’ll hire some ... bozo on the cheap ...

Anyone could write comparable bilge about the NBA teams that:

have never won an NBA championship (10 teams);

paid the luxury tax and won less than 50 games;

failed to make the playoffs in half of the last 10 seasons (11 teams).

Your problem is that they're not letting you see them sweat. You're just part of the chorus, trying to become the soloist or conductor. But it's a race to the bottom.

While you've been howling at the moon, the Bulls have started their rebuild, they’ll have a Top-10 draft pick and tons of salary cap, they’ll be even younger, taller and faster and might even "earn" another Top-10 pick in 2027 while developing an aggressive, winning culture, and they’ll sell tickets in spite of your slurs.

Is that what really burns your butt the most? You can't get a rise out of them no matter what you write? Or is that just your career formula, and you really have no concerns?

Soon each NBA team will have just 1 chance in 32 to win a Championship in any year, so you'll have many opportunities ahead of you.

TheArtistFormerlyKnownAsJB's avatar

When Jerry is sitting in his office, laughing and thinking about his fans who keep fully buying his BS, he’s thinking about posts like this.

Being a fan of the team doesn’t mean you have to be a sycophant for the front office.

Rayan's avatar

It’s not too late to delete. I had to log in just so I could call you a dumbass

your friendly BullsBlogger's avatar

so much stupid

1. this site isn't journalism

2. even if it was, journalism isn't "don't say what's bad because other things are also bad"

3. and though it is not a journalism goal, it's also not a goal to get the Bulls to react to me. I would like it if they cared what fans thought. I mean the majority who sees this for what it is, dogshit, not whatever you think

Diabolo's avatar

"not a goal to get the Bulls to react to me"

You may have failed. I'm starting to think Michael Tulig might be Michael Reinsdorf. But not sure the latter has a computer or access to internet.

Dalibor Bagaric post up's avatar

I highly doubt Michael Reinsdorf knows how to use the word "bilge."

Anyway we're getting younger/taller/faster!!! Those are meaningful things to say about an NBA team because nobody else is working those angles.

thekiltedwonder's avatar

But ChatGPT knows how to use the world bilge!

Dogfishhead's avatar

Wut?

Dalibor Bagaric post up's avatar

This is some of the craziest shit I've ever read.

I believe I said before you talk about this organization like you have an ownership stake. Do you? If not your identification with what's going into the ownership group's pockets is a sign of mental illness.

d-noah's avatar

Julia Poe said that Jaden Ivey and Jalen Smith are fully shut down for the year. Boggles my mind that poor Jalen Smith kept getting played when he was obviously hurt. And what a disaster this Jaden Ivey pick was. Another AK msterclass.

It may be that AK stumbles into a high pick like Dallas did (like the Bulls almost did!) but will never be a contender with AK as their President. How can Billy have confidence in AK to be anything more than incompetent job security?

your friendly BullsBlogger's avatar

yes it's good they finally used some sanity with Jalen Smith, and (hopefully) it was not too late. He didn't tear his achilles or anything so they probably did get away with it.

Ivey is only a disaster if they re-sign him to anything but a low-risk contract. Merely getting him here only meant Kevin Huerter. Though there is maybe the opportunity cost of the Bulls treating Ivey as value and not getting, oh, another 2nd round pick or Marcus Sasser or something

thekiltedwonder's avatar

"It may be that AK stumbles into a high pick like Dallas did"

You'll never convince me that lottery wasn't fixed.

H_Vaughn's avatar

Billy should have stayed in college. He had a worse win percentage than his predecessor Scotty Brooks in OKC and claimed he was leaving because Presti (!) didn't "have a firm map for immediate success," only to choose one of the dumbest three orgs in the association. He had the examples of Calipari and Pitino to learn from and the counter-example of Izzo. Billy even backed out of coaching the Orlando Magic to run back to campus - so on some level even he knew he was just another greying dude in Dockers lusting for a Corvette. His whole NBA career has been an unfulfilled mid-life crisis.

MikeDC's avatar

Pretty sure the reason he left OKC is that Presti didn't want to pay him $6M+/yr to coach 20 win teams.

Trigga T's avatar

He's going to go back to college. Why would he want to work in this front office when he knows it's run like a clown college with owners who don't really care about winning?

your friendly BullsBlogger's avatar

OKC roster snapshot for tonight. I think Holmgren was a late scratch, don't recall seeing him on injury report earlier today. https://substack.com/profile/3012-your-friendly-bullsblogger/note/c-234342040

Roger's avatar

Goodbye Donovan and take AK and Patrick Williams with you! Hopefully we can get Griffith or Thibs or someone else that can read the players and use them the right way. Mike Brown would be nice but NY has him. The front office needs a GM that knows the NBA and how to put together a team that can contend. They need to decide if they want a winning team or a team good enough to barely make the playoffs every year. If Reinsdorf is looking for something to invest in he should sell the team and buy expensive paintings. We could have had a great team but Reinsdorf is a miser and AK knows as much about basketball as a 4th grader. I would like to root for the Bulls but Donovan would rather play his 2 favorite players mostly than win the game. He doesn't trust anyone else that doesn't turn the ball over. The Bulls play like they don't practice.

TC's avatar

I appreciate Thibs but yea we don't need to revisit that. No retreads

Roger's avatar

We made the playoffs with him and so did N.Y.

Trigga T's avatar

By that logic, why not bring back Doug Collins? We made the playoffs with him too.

Where's Scott Skiles at?

Dick Motta still alive?

TheArtistFormerlyKnownAsJB's avatar

This team has won six games in the last nine weeks. Right now, they’re undoubtedly the worst team in the NBA that’s actually trying to win.

And it’s barely mattered from a lottery standings perspective, because they were farting around with a 23-22 record in late January.

This is not a “The Bulls should have tanked all year” post. This is a “It’s completely inexcusable that AK keeps beginning seasons without a plan” post.

Chi-Fed's avatar

Well, I don’t think Jaden Ivey is in the Bulls plan for next season. He’s gone off the deep end.

your friendly BullsBlogger's avatar

I didn't know Jaden Ivey's speculated mental breakdown had made news beyond Reddit, but shortly after Cowley (genuinely: you gotta hand it to him!) wrote Bulls are aware and 'working on exit strategy' Ivey was simply waived.

Obviously a dumb move from AK. (He's a dumb guy! fire him!) This was low impact, only 'cost' was Kevin Huerter, but who knows maybe the Pistons were offering something else and AK jumped on the draft pedigree in spite of knowledge of Ivey's knee and brain.

Chi-Fed's avatar

I thought the Bulls might have brought him back on a cheap contract next season, but I think his NBA career is over.

SweetBeezus's avatar

I went to the Bulls/Rockets game last week and made it a point to watch Ivey on the bench based on what I'd seen on tv. It was so strange that he never once reacted at all to anything on the court - lots of crazy dunks and threes, and he just sat there stoically. Really strange in any sports scenario, and this whole thing maybe gives a sense of what's going on.

Trigga T's avatar

was him losing his mind on some religious zealot stylee already known? I hate AK but this is a shrugworthy thing. not sure Pistons were offering up anything of real value for Huerter tbh so i could see the vision of getting Ivey.

now if they knew he was damaged goods not just physically but MENTALLY too then yea that was some goofy shyt

your friendly BullsBlogger's avatar

per Julia Poe there was a lot of known info from Detroit on Ivey evangelizing in the locker room

I think that's concerning, but a level below going on daily instagram rants

and really it's about him no longer being a viable player physically. If he was then maybe he doesn't have time to do this, and then the Bulls would merely suspend him even if something did come out. They employed Josh Primo and only cut him too after injury.

TC's avatar

Of course, if he could still score 16 a game, he would be on the team. Talent overrides behavior in most cases unless its too egregious.

Either way, good riddance. Hope dude gets the help he needs, he seems unhinged

Captain Kirk's Tooth Gap's avatar

Is it safe to assume that waiving Ivey also waives the cap hold they would have had from his contract this summer?

your friendly BullsBlogger's avatar

Yes no bird rights no cap hold

Captain Kirk's Tooth Gap's avatar

Ivey is going to get a lot of hate for some of the things he's said, and rightly so. With that being said, as a Christian who is married to a therapist, the guy is clearly going through some serious mental health issues, and hiding behind religion is not going to fix them. I genuinely do hope he gets the help he clearly needs.

bob's avatar

what about anything he said automatically defaults to "mentally ill"

Captain Kirk's Tooth Gap's avatar

Couple things here. First, I said he's going through "mental health issues." I did not say he's mentally ill. Those are two very different things.

Second, I should clarify that I have not seen the Instagram live video that was apparently the final straw. I was specifically referring to the comments he made shortly after being traded to the Bulls and then some of the things he's been writing in the comments sections of his Instagram posts that were posted on the Bulls subreddit recently.

The Choices We Make's avatar

If you're "specifically referring to" something then you should probably mention that when you're referring to it.

Captain Kirk's Tooth Gap's avatar

That's my bad. The point of my comment was just saying that I hoped he'd get the help he clearly needs. I didn't realize I needed to specifically quote him to make that point, but I'll try to be more clear next time.

bob's avatar

fair, I've just seen a lot of that particular term thrown around immediately

Captain Kirk's Tooth Gap's avatar

Yeah, I definitely get where you're coming from. And I want to be clear, I wasn't trying to use that to excuse what he's said. My only point was that he seems to be going through some real hardships, and I just hope he's able to get the help he needs. I was pretty dumb when I was 24. I couldn't imagine handling the pressure he has on him when I was that young.

The Choices We Make's avatar

eh, you're moving goal posts a little bit, probably unintentionally.

In this reply you're saying he's going through "mental health issues" which, I mean, everyone kind of is at all times, more or less. You're not adding anything to this other than what seems "excuse making."

But in the first comment you actually said SERIOUS mental health issues. That's a helluva lot closer to saying someone has a mental illness than just someone going through mental health issues.

In my mind:

Going through mental health issues - I'd say 90-100% of people go through at least one mental health issue per eyar (depression, anxiety, whatever) and get through with and without help

mental illness - diagnosed illness

serious mental health issues - undiagnosed mental illness that needs professional help.

I think you are absolutely referring to the last. I don't know why you'd back away from it. Like, if he's depressed, and he goes and gets professional help, he is almsot 100% going to be diagnosed with some level of depression.

Captain Kirk's Tooth Gap's avatar

Those are fair points. I'm not sure I'd say I'm moving the goalposts as much as I was just trying to clarify what I meant in my original comment, even though I likely didn't do a good job of that in said comment (good thing I don't do this for a living!).

I shouldn't have said he's going through serious mental issues. I should have said IT SEEMS like he's going through serious mental health issues. To be very clear, I am not a licensed therapist or psychiatrist or anything like that, so I don't have the knowledge to diagnose someone with a mental illness. If Ivey is suffering from depression, then yes, he is mentally ill. I don't know the man, so I'm not going to say with 100% certainty that he is mentally ill.

All I can say is that he seems to be going through mental health issues just based on the things I've seen online. But again, the main point of my comment was just that I hope he doesn't use his religion as an excuse to not get the help it seems he needs.

Trigga T's avatar

he stated recently that he had been going thru depression this year. which doesn't excuse his statements at all but clarifies his mental health issues

Stay Chisel's avatar

If he has real depression he has a mental illness.

your friendly BullsBlogger's avatar

nothing that singularly 'automatic', it's the sheer volume and scattershot nature of the comments

The Choices We Make's avatar

I don't know why people so often say this about young, black men. It's no different than what right-wing politicians and "opinion-makers" say on a daily basis. I think he's just seeing the end of a basketball career (and maybe he's sad about that, I dunno), and he's seeing a lane to get paid to be on the circuit for all the right-wingers being snowflake victims.

There are COUNTLESS examples of not just politicians but other people in the public eye who have moved further right in the past 10 years, and I'm not ready to say they're all suffering from mental health issues - i mean more than that everyone is. I think it's more likely they see a way to make money and are taking it.

TheArtistFormerlyKnownAsJB's avatar

Moving on from Ivey was obviously the right decision. His comments were inexcusable.

How did this franchise get here? What the hell is wrong with AK? STOP ACQUIRING PLAYERS OTHER TEAMS ARE TRYING TO GET RID OF.

Giddey is not a core player and had a gross and illegal off-court controversy. Okoro is a meh role player who does not impact a team. Dillingham is a major work in progress who likely won’t have a significant future in this league. Ivey was an injured player with hideous opinions. Yet AK wanted them all!

Cut the crap, Arturas! You haven’t discovered some hack for team-building. You’re just a hack who can’t build a team.

your friendly BullsBlogger's avatar

it would be great if someone asked (not that he'll answer well) why he thinks his 'player development franchise all about winning' can shine these turds, yet the guys he drafts bust out

Jason Patt's avatar

He’s gotta actually face the media to do that!

Jaina's avatar

I mean I don't defend sexual predators lightly but he was 19, met the girl in an 18+ nightclub and she lied about her age. He's not Karl Malone.

your friendly BullsBlogger's avatar

Now Julia Poe with the flamethrower to AK. Not only the poor process in acquiring Ivey, but the lack of personal accountability after https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/03/31/jaden-ivey-arturas-karnisovas-chicago-bulls/

Chi-Fed's avatar

Damn. I wonder if the Reinsdorfs will fire AKME now. It’s one thing to be bad, but it’s a completely different thing to be bad and embarrassing. AKME has been here six years and have accomplished nothing.

SweetBeezus's avatar

I am starting to feel some optimism that this is AKME's swan song. Also saw some second-hand Cowley-grumblings that Billy will leave if AKME doesn't. You love to see it.

your friendly BullsBlogger's avatar

Can make the parallel to Ivey. Not worth the embarrassment.

your friendly BullsBlogger's avatar

Cowley also had a 'fire AK' column but it's Cowley

he did have the half-assed report (just like his 'Bulls working on exit strategy' re: Ivey that he was mad got scooped...) saying that BD will leave if AK is around