Now that we’re into the Chicago Bulls offseason, the actual fun can begin. The Derrick Rose “God only knows” bit is done. Our long civic nightmare of Derrick Rose return media coverage is over. We can move on to other things this summer. We have the NBA Draft in 15 days. The ground-breaking of the new practice facility next door to the United Center happened Monday.
Chicago Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau was named an assistant for USA Basketball the same day. And of course, we have to talk about the health of Kirk Hinrich and Loul Deng.
All the Chicago Bulls higher-ups spoke to the media at the ground-breaking event.
Some pictures and a video from the Chicago Bulls website
Chicago Bulls General Manager Gar Forman
I asked him what potential free agents will like the best about this new facility, the amenities etc…
“First of all it’s located in Chicago and we’ll continue to sell the city as it’s got so much to offer. Everything is going to be first class, from a rehabilitation stand point, from a strength and conditioning standpoint, to having another full court to use, meeting rooms, video rooms, it’s just going to give us an advantage in every area.”
Most importantly, Gar noted:
“the media will like it.”
Forman on Loul Deng’s health:
“he went overseas, but supposedly he’s doing really well. He’s feeling good.”
on Hinrich’s recovery:
“Kirk’s already been in the building training.”
Chicago Bulls Owner/Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf
One of the biggest positives about the new building:
“not to have to fight the traffic before games. If we’re up having a shoot-around in Deerfield, you know what happens on the in-bound Edens, so we’re going to eliminate that. And they can stay at the building up until game time.”
Chicago Bulls Vice President of Operations John Paxson
On the big picture:
“After this year, which is about as tough a year, we need to focus on getting our guys right. If you look at the teams that are still playing, or played in the conference finals, they’re pretty much healthy. We’ll minimize the risk of injury and this summer will be good for our guys.”
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