Zach Lavine was benched by Billy Donovan during the loss to the Orlando Magic and that upset the Chicago Bulls star player.
The Chicago Bulls haven’t had a great start to the season and things aren’t going well for them. Lonzo Ball’s absence has had a huge impact on them since the end of last season and until he returns this team is unlikely to play at the level they played in the first half of the last season.
Zach Lavine got a max extension in the summer, and so far he hasn’t played at his level yet and that has been a concern for them. The Bulls recently bizarrely lost to the Orlando Magic and Lavine was benched at the end of the fourth quarter because he was having a terrible game.
After the game, head coach Billy Donovan’s decision to keep him out of the game frustrated Zach Lavine, and said some words about his head coach which weren’t taken well by the public.
After getting benched during the fourth quarter in the loss to the Orlando Magic, Zach Lavine talked about coach Billy Donovan and said, “I just told him I feel like I’ve earned the right to go out there and try to play through a bad game, His decision was to try to do the best thing for the team, which I respect. If we won, obviously, I would’ve been ecstatic. We lost, I wasn’t. I had a terrible game.”
Lavine added, “But it’s one game, man. I don’t want to get this blown out of proportion to the point we’re talking about a loss, where we’ve had multiple losses this year. We got a lot of games left this year. We’re all good. I think he understands where I’m coming from and I understand his decision as a coach that he has to make are tough, even if your players don’t agree with it.”
Things are good in Chicago as Zach Lavine was just frustrated by the loss and head coach Billy Donovan wasn’t upset with what his star player said and that is a positive thing for the team.
Billy Donovan is not unhappy with Zach Lavine
Although the comments made by Zach Lavine could have been perceived as quite harsh by Billy Donovan, the Bulls head coach isn’t unhappy with his star player and understands why Lavine got unhappy in that situation.
Speaking about Lavine’s comments about him, Billy Donovan said, “I totally get his competitiveness and his wanting to win and be out there, He should. I think all great players want to be able to do that.”
He added, “I felt in that moment in time it was best for the team. And I think he knows that I’ll always try to put the team first and do what’s best for the team. I also respect him from the standpoint, his opinion, he thought he needed to be out there, that was best for the team.”
Nikola Vucevic missing both free throws led to Orlando Magic winning the game and had the Bulls won that game, none of this drama would have happened as Lavine wouldn’t have been frustrated because the team would have won.
Zach Lavine and the Bulls need to get back on track quickly or else they might miss the playoffs which will be a major disappointment. Demar DeRozan is still playing well and hopefully, Lavine will be also back in form soon as Lonzo Ball edges closer to his return to the court.
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