The holiday season presents an opportunity to indulge in rituals. When the calendar hits the two-month span that includes Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day, there is time allotted to share food with family, exchange gifts, drop the ball and … fire Bulls coaches.
Increasingly, it has become commonplace for the Bulls to let go of their head coach when it is least likely to reach the radar of fans and media members. Dating to the 2001-02 season, the Bulls have established a trend of relieving coaches of their duties during the holidays.
Since Phil Jackson stepped away at the end of the Michael Jordan era, the Bulls have had eight full-time coaches, and four of them have parted ways with the team in the months of November and December. With the holiday season upon us and rumors about Jim Boylen’s fate swirling, now feels like an opportune time to reflect on the Bulls’ checkered history during the giving season.
2001: Tim Floyd resigns on Christmas Eve
The first was Tim Floyd, who took over after the Michael Jordan years and struggled to produce under the long shadow of Phil Jackson. Floyd, the 13th coach of the Bulls franchise, was an abysmal 49-190 in Chicago, including a 15-67 showing in the 2000-01 season.
But rather than make a decision on Floyd during the offseason when transactions are often expected, the Bulls brought Floyd back. He resigned on Christmas Eve. At the time, Floyd said the decision to resign was his own, yet general manager Jerry Krause’s name was left off the list when he thanked members of the franchise.
2003: Bill Cartwright fired days after Thanksgiving
John Paxson became general manager in 2003, and Bill Cartwright was his first casualty. Fired just days after Thanksgiving during a road trip to his hometown of Sacramento, Calif., Cartwright was let go in a phone call from his former teammate. Paxson believed the Bulls were underperforming under Cartwright. He was 51-100 in two seasons.
Cartwright never really stood a chance, as he took over in lean times after Floyd’s resignation. Cartwright coached a mismatched roster centered on young players such as Tyson Chandler and Eddy Curry and anchored by veterans including Jalen Rose and future Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg. “Just as I am a young player getting better, he was a young coach who was getting better. It’s a sad thing,” Chandler told the baiduhai at the time.
2007: Scott Skiles fired on Christmas Eve
Scott Skiles’ firing was perhaps the most egregious on the list. Unlike Floyd and Cartwright, he experienced success as Bulls coach and reached the playoffs in each of his three full seasons. Skiles’ team registered the first playoff win since the Jordan dynasty ended in 1998, reinvigorating a franchise and fan base that had lay dormant for years.
Led by a young Ben Gordon and Luol Deng, the Bulls became a franchise on the rise with Skiles at the helm. None of that mattered when they started the 2007-08 season with a 9-16 record. Skiles was summoned to Paxson’s office and relieved of his duties just before his team was set to start a Christmas Eve practice.
2018: Fred Hoiberg fired in December
A blowout loss to the Rockets on Dec. 1 proved to be the final game of Fred Hoiberg’s tenure. The Mayor wasn’t in a position of power in Chicago. Hoiberg entered his time as Bulls coach on the heels of a messy breakup between the Bulls and Tom Thibodeau. While Thibodeau rarely saw eye to eye with the front office, he oversaw some of the best years in Bulls history. Thibodeau coached Derrick Rose in his prime and took the Bulls to the conference finals in 2011.
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When Hoiberg came around, Rose and Joakim Noah were hobbled, and one of the best groups in Bulls history was on its last legs. The emergence of Jimmy Butler should have been an asset for Hoiberg, but the two never clicked. Butler’s dissatisfaction, an ill-fated experiment with Dwyane Wade and Rajon Rondo and team infighting ended the Hoiberg era after three years.