Chicago Bulls downplay rumors of discontent within the team

There's nothing like a victory to get some good vibes going through the Chicago Bulls locker on a day that started with reports of disconnect and dissent amongst teammates. Despite the narrative, Bulls players were quick to downplay such rumors and instead focus on turning the season around one game at a time.

Healthy confrontations

The team's veteran star, DeMar DeRozan, said that some confrontation is healthy for any team. Rather than be dismissive of losses and frustrations, DeRozan said that the team should confront these issues head-on.

“It’d be a problem if we didn’t have any type of aggressive confrontation,” DeRozan said. “It ain’t like nobody threw blows or chairs or anything like that. To have any type of confrontation is just a true sign of a competitor. When you want to win and things aren’t going right, a sense of frustration kicks in. That’s all that was.”

DeMar DeRozan on Sunday’s halftime: “It’d be a problem if we didn’t have any type of aggressive confrontation someway. It ain’t like nobody throwing blows or throwing chairs or anything like that.” pic.twitter.com/4uRgUXRVke
— Darnell Mayberry (@DarnellMayberry) December 21, 2022

DeRozan was referring to the heated confrontation that reports say happened inside the Bulls' locker during halftime of their 150-124 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves earlier this week. LaVine relayed it was nothing out of the ordinary, especially on a team filled with competitors who are tired of losing.

“Something that happens all the time in our locker room. It happens. Multiple guys talking, multiple guys frustrated. That’s what’s supposed to happen, it’s a basketball team. Not the first time, not the last time. It’s just you hear it. It’s nothing new to us," said LaVine.

Not a big deal

Bulls center Nikola Vucevic also chimed in on the incident, saying it happens to either the best teams or the worst because, at the end of the day, everyone wants to win and when they don't, frustration sets in. He also added that it was nothing to be alarmed about and that it's how the team deals with adversity that will ultimately define their success.

“Nothing that happened was a big deal. I mean, if you’re in professional sports, you’re going to have arguments with your teammates. That’s part of it," said Vucevic.

BIG game from the big man tonight. 26/12 with 4:26 to play. pic.twitter.com/xodPILGAdl
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) December 21, 2022