Zach LaVine and Bulls head coach Jim Boylen are “in a better place” now following a one-on-one meeting to diffuse some tension between the two.
LaVine erupted for a career-high 49 points and a game-winning three-pointer Saturday night in Charlotte, one day after being benched for “three egregious defensive mistakes” in Friday’s home loss to Miami.
“That’s the greatest love you can show somebody,” Boylen told reporters about singling out Chicago’s best player.
Per NBC Sports Chicago:
“I let him know how I felt,” LaVine said. “We’re not going to try and drag this out. We had a misunderstanding. We still have a lot of things to work out as a team — personal, coaching. We all have to be accountable for our actions.”
Boylen said LaVine’s postgame comments from Friday, in which LaVine said he felt singled out, didn’t bother him because he knows “Zach’s heart and what kind of person he is.” He said he and LaVine talk regularly. “I know he cares about the team. I know he cares about playing good basketball. I know we all can get frustrated with a poor performance, me included with my performance. Those things happen,” Boylen said. “I just want him to be more consistent. He wants to be more consistent. We have a whole team I think that needs to be more consistent. I’ve held Lauri [Markkanen] out of fourth quarters. I’ve pulled Hutch (Chandler Hutchison) the other day because I wanted him to play better in that situation. My job is to try to get this team to move in the right direction. That’s what I try to do.”
Does LaVine want to be coached that way?
“To each their own. If that’s how he feels he has to coach me, that’s his prerogative,” LaVine said. “Like I said, I let him know how I felt and we’re in a better place now. So we’ll see how it goes.”
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