Chicago Bulls Fire Head Coach Jim Boylen Following Rocky Tenure

The Chicago Bulls have struggled to find success in recent seasons and are searching for a restart at a vital position. The team fired head coach Jim Boylen, ending his tenure after two seasons. He finishes his Windy City coaching stint with a record of 39-84 and no playoff appearances.

"After doing a comprehensive evaluation and giving the process the time it deserved, I ultimately decided that a fresh approach and evolution in leadership was necessary," executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas said in a statement. "This was a very difficult decision, but it is time for our franchise to take that next step as we move in a new direction and era of Chicago Bulls basketball. Jim is a great human being that cares deeply about this organization and the game of basketball. I want to thank him for his professionalism and commitment to the franchise."

According to ESPN, Boylen has a .317 win percentage during his time as head coach of the Bulls. This is the second-lowest mark in franchise history with a minimum of 100 games, just above Tim Floyd's .205. Prior to the NBA season's postponement, Chicago had a record of 22-43.

With the change in leadership, the Bulls will move forward in search of a new head coach. There is no timeline for this decision, and certain members of the staff will remain while continuing to work with the players at the team facility. This includes Roy Rogers and Chris Fleming, both of whom are under contract beyond the 2020 season.

"Officially the last day of the regular season is today so I thought the timing was right, right now going into the lottery and the draft process and it's an official offseason for us so we thought that it was good timing," Karnisovas said. "In terms of what we're going to be looking for, we're going to continuing focusing on player development, an emphasis on player development, someone who puts the relationship with players first and is a good communicator. There are a lot of factors going on in terms of criteria that we're looking for in a coach but again, those are the main ones and we will start the search immediately."

The identity of the future coach is unknown, but many fans have called for another recently-fired figure to join the team. The New Orleans Pelicans parted ways with head coach Alvin Gentry after the team struggled in the Orlando bubble. This firing led many fans on social media to proclaim that Gentry should lead the Bulls.