Old Guards and Youngbloods

Last December 8, a Saturday, the Chicago Bulls lost to the Boston Celtics by 56 points. There have been thirteen (13) games in NBA history with bigger margins in final scores. NBA history dates back to 1946. Suffice to say, that was a massacre. Calling it a blowout is an understatement. They were annihilated. That game must have sent viewers packing. Games like that in basketball aren’t enjoyable to watch, even for the home team — unless they were rivals. This registered as the Bulls’ biggest loss in franchise history.

This record-breaking loss was then followed by a mutiny by Bulls’ players against the coaching staff. Fresh off replacing their head coach (former Iowa State’s) Fred Hoiberg with former Spurs assistant coach Jim Boylen and at the tail end of a back-to-back where they had just defeated the Thunder — seemingly unhappy with how the starters were playing that fateful game against the Celtics — Boylen twice inserted an all-bench mob into the court. The bench players eventually finished the game, bearing firsthand witness to an offensive barrage by Boston. Said mutiny included a refusal to practice, which thankfully culminated in a meeting between players and coaches, where sharp words were thrown back and forth. One exchange in particular allegedly included Boylen using his experiences with the Spurs to justify his hardnosed decisions, with the players retorting to it by pointing out that he’s not (Spurs head coach Greg) Popovich.

As very much an outsider looking in, I had very little idea on how the situation developed on the inside. And I wasn’t going to pretend like I know how these things work. Instead, I chanced upon others’ opinions around the internet; and I’ve noticed two contrasting opinions with significant support behind each of them.

On sites like Reddit, the prevailing opinion was that Boylen was a stubborn old geezer running the players into the ground. NBA teams traditionally don’t hold team practices after a back-to-back. The “you ain’t Pop” comment was found to be particularly hilarious. I found there to be more sympathy for the players, backed as well by the league’s decision to reduce consecutive games for teams by refining their scheduling schemes. These moves by the league were made in the spirit of keeping players healthy and reducing injuries across the board.

 

When I saw this topic being discussed by former players on Inside the NBA however, I found there to be more support for Boylen and less love for the players.

Charles Barkley reminisced back to his playing days, wherein if they lost in a blowout, nobody was taking a day off thereafter. th and Kenny Smith talked about the understanding that their tenures in the NBA are jobs; they had to put work in, and their actions affect everybody else in their core workgroup.

Kevin Garnett (who temporarily took Shaquille O’Neal’s place in the studio while O’Neal’s son went through a heart procedure) said players these days are coming from entitled positions, pertaining to the scheduling back in his days which could sometimes include as much as 5 consecutive games for a team.

All three of them shared the opinion that their pride as NBA players wouldn’t let them sit back and relax after a loss of that magnitude. They would hit the gym right after, they would work on what was going wrong — be it chemistry as a team or just personal physical issues with themselves. Their competitive spirits would keep their fires ablaze, and a 50 point loss should have served as gas to that fire. Kenny Smith went so far as to quote a story wherein one of his former coaches asked him rhetorically if they got into an altercation in the game that followed a 20-point loss.

 

Going back to the issue of the Bulls’ players versus the Bulls’ coaching staff, and looking at it from both sides, I do see merits in both arguments.

The old guard primarily come from a standpoint of endurance and effort. They credit their success to a culture of stoicism and overcoming hardships; trials that serve to temper their resolve, much like how coal is turned into diamond. And they find it insulting that some of these young players, who are coming into the league under much-improved conditions (relative to theirs), have the audacity to complain about practice.

They know how it feels to finally reach the top of the mountain after overcoming adversity — the greater the difficulty, the bigger the prize feels. So I guess at some level, they feel like today’s players are selling themselves short.

It all sounds like a gripe about millennials — because it is. But I see where it comes from.

 

The youngbloods, on the other hand, could certainly use some tempering. But I agree with the league’s decisions to maintain their players’ respective health situations by way of normalizing game schedules and reducing back-to-backs. In some cases, they’ve eliminated excessive consecutive games altogether. Which is great because they can take a toll on a player, leaving them more susceptible to injuries. And for athletes, whose bodies literally are the source of their income, their long-term health is worth investing in.

LeBron James notably spends around a million dollars every year to keep his body in the best shape humanly and technologically possible. To that end, James employs a squad of trainers and utilizes high tech machinery like hyperbaric chambers. And the results speak for themselves. At age 33, the King continues to be amongst the league’s elite, faring far better than any of his colleagues with similar mileage; like Dwyane Wade (36, on his farewell tour), Chris Paul (33, unable to get to the Finals, riddled with hamstring injuries), or Carmelo Anthony (34, unofficially released by the Houston Rockets with no team looking to pick up his contract).

Any aspiring young player would want to be able to extend their careers like LeBron. Injuries have robbed too many a player of their careers. There is a lot of evidence pointing to overuse of an athlete’s body being contributory to injury or susceptibility thereof. We don’t need another Tracy McGrady, another Grant Hill. The idea is to work smart, not (just) hard.

 

When I put two and two together, I see why both sides feel the way they do. I sympathize with the old guard having achieved what they’ve achieved despite the situation they were in, and that makes their accomplishments that much sweeter. But the game is changing.

Teams are running a lot more.

There is data that directly supports this. Pace has increased steadily over the years. Game scores are higher. There are more total possessions in games. The average NBA athlete’s body suffers more wear and tear in this era just off raw mileage. So it’s not surprising for players to want more time to rest. They are expected to be able to push the pace on offense; as well as be able to run back on defense because their opponent is also looking to run. Transition is the name of the game.

So with all that in mind, maybe it doesn’t sound so bad that these young players to want to take care of their bodies and rest after a back-to-back. It’s economical to stretch your playing days, especially with how extravagant player salaries are.

Yes, 5 straight games in 5 days was hard, KG. And kudos for being overcoming all that towards getting your ring in Boston. He deserves all the credit for it. But his and Barkley’s experience doesn’t make it right that the league runs its players into the ground.

 

What I can get on board with the old guard is the competitiveness that they expect from today’s players. In the same video above, Kenny Smith mentions instances of (current to recent) players like Damian Lillard or LeBron hitting the gym after a bad game. Gilbert Arenas shot and made a thousand free throws in the court when he missed a crucial pair against the Cavaliers in 2006. (He also mentioned Kobe, but I truly believe that the Mamba practiced regardless if the Lakers won or lost — the man was a machine)

Coming off a 56-point blowout, someone on the Bulls should have been itching to work on their problems; except the only one reported to do so was Jim Boylen.

With the results of that situation now known to the media, I’m guessing ol’ Jim didn’t have a way with words. He reportedly was caught comparing his squad to the Spurs, quoted saying the phrases, “When I was on the Spurs…” or “…this is how Pop did it”; which left a sour taste in the players’ mouths. Whatever it was he was doing, it certainly wasn’t something that was applicable to the Bulls. And there must have been some other stuff going on behind the scenes that we don’t know about for the players to blatantly disrespect him like that.

The culture of tanking may have something to do with it. The Philadelphia 76ers are on the heels of being a contender. After years of being bottom feeders, they’ve been “rewarded” draft picks and used them to land generational talents in Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid. Teams are copying that formula. Rather than waste years in the middle of the standings (where you’re not good enough to make any noise in the playoffs, or not low enough to have a good chance at a high pick), teams “blow it up” and rebuild; to rebuild, teams sometimes put themselves in a position to not be as competitive, on purpose.

It’s this “not as competitive” mentality that can be dangerous if left to linger for too long. And it’s this mentality that may have caught up with the Bulls at the worst possible time, leading to this drama.

 

I still believe a compromise can be made for both sides. So what is this compromise?

1. For the old guard, they have to come to terms with the evolution of the league they once played in. The players’ physical welfare is something the league values; and rightfully so, since it directly fuels the quality of their product.
2. For the youngbloods — especially the players in tanking teams themselves — they have to keep their heads up and focus on their development. The fact that they’re tanking means they won’t be under the microscope, compared to those on established teams. This is an opportunity for them to ball out and showcase their individual talent.

 

I’d like to end this blog post with a thought I always keep when thinking of conflicting entities; these can be tangible like people, or intangible like ideas. The word is compromise; but the thought is simply finding things you have in common, rather than things you disagree over. The world is divided enough as it is. We can’t afford to keep squabbling while looming threats endanger us all. We all need to find ways to get along. It’s only by our combined efforts as the planet’s most powerful and most intelligent species that we will be able to face the biggest challenges head-on.