NBA Rumors: Latest Buzz on Warriors, Bulls Firing Fred Hoiberg and More
It may have looked like the Golden State Warriors had an easy run to their second-straight NBA championship last year, but as it turns out, it wasn't quite the cakewalk it appeared to be.
Outside of getting pushed to the brink of elimination by the Houston Rockets in the Western Conference Finals, the team also dealt with another major setback.
Back in March, the Warriors endured a team-wide meningitis scare, according to The Athletic's Sam Amick.
"An outside vendor who handled the team's food on a daily basis contracted a contagious form of the disease, then survived a life-threatening challenge before eventually returning to work with the team," Amick wrote.
"But at the time, with the concern peaking in between a road game at Minnesota on March 11 and a home game against the Lakers on March 14, the internal fear was great enough that extensive precautionary measures were taken to ensure the meningitis didn't spread to their super team."
The scare prompted players and some staff members to take vaccination shots. Team practice was also moved to Oracle Arena while the practice facility was sanitized.
This incident was one of the things former Golden State forward David West alluded to when he told ESPN's Marc Spears that people would be shocked to hear about that Warriors team.
"We're so tight, people don't even know what we went through," West told The Athletic's Marcus Thompson back in June. "They trying to find out. We don't have suckas on this team."
Amick noted that The Warriors declined to comment for his story.
"It was just a serious health scare where, for me, it's just something like, 'Wow,'" West told Amick. "That was in my mind at the time (of his post-Finals quotes).
"It was the entire team (who was affected). It was crazy. It was the heart of the season. It was something that, again, it showed the strength of the organization (that they got through it to win the title)."
To help assuage player concerns, doctors were brought in to explain the situation.
"Of course in the beginning, everyone was freaked out," Zaza Pachulia told Amick. "But after hearing from professionals, (when) doctors talked to us and the team did all the necessary (things), they responded really well, and right away.
"It was an immediate response, and cleared everything out and changed everything, and they told us about the symptoms, told us how dangerous it was, and told us what we should be aware of. …They also told us that the (chances of contracting it were) minimal, where basically we wouldn't get it unless we had physical contact with the (vendor), and we never did. So everything turned out fine. But initially it was tough. It was kind of scary."
It's a long season for every team in the NBA, filled with highs and lows, winning streaks and losing streaks and, more importantly, major and minor disagreements.
To West, if Golden State could get through all of that and the meningitis scare, it could withstand the dust-up between Kevin Durant and Draymond Green.
"If we were able to get through that, then (they'll) be able to get through this," West said.
The Warriors are uncharacteristically struggling this year. They are in fourth place in the Western Conference standings at 16-9 and just lost starting center Damian Jones for the season to a pectoral injury.
Stephen Curry just returned from a groin injury and Green is still out with a toe injury.
It's likely Golden State will return to form when they get all of their star players back on the court, but until then, they have their shared experiences to lean on while they battle adversity.
Bulls Fire Fred Hoiberg
The Chicago Bulls fired head coach Fred Hoiberg on Monday during the team's practice, K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune reported.
He also revealed that Hoiberg would still like to coach, preferably in the NBA.
"I have come to believe after talking to lots of sources over lots of years now, that (Hoiberg's) tepid nature played some role in his inability to imprint any foundational belief upon any of his four Chicago teams," ESPN's Zach Lowe wrote.
The former coach of Iowa State had been with the Bulls for almost four seasons, but the team was languishing at 14th place in the Eastern Conference with a record of 5-19.
"Decisions like this one are never easy to make, however I felt this was the right choice for our organization at this time. After a thorough evaluation, I elected to make this move with the overall development of our team in mind," Bulls executive vice president of basketball operations John Paxson said in a statement.
"As a team, I believe it is imperative that we make unfaltering strides in the right direction and build the right habits to help put our players in the best position to evolve not only now, but into the future. I want to thank Fred for his dedication and efforts, as well as for his enduring commitment to our team."
In conjunction with Hoiberg's release, Chicago promoted associate head coach Jim Boylen to the helm for the remainder of the season.
Paxson said that the team is committed to Boylen long term and added that general manager Gar Forman's job is "absolutely safe."
The Bulls were reeling from injuries. Lauri Markkanen just returned from injuring his left elbow, but Denzel Valentine, Kris Dunn and Bobby Portis are still out.
"For us to sit here and think that just because we're getting guys back, I think that would mask the problems that we've seen," Paxson said. "We gave Fred an opportunity. He did a lot of good things for us. But I'm tasked with, Gar's tasked with, looking at the underlying things in the organization."
Hoiberg was hired in June 2015 to replace Tom Thibodeau. He had problems establishing his pace-and-space style and his authority in the early going, though, and had run-ins with former player Jimmy Butler, who made it known that the team needed to "be coached harder at times."
Hoiberg did coach the team to the playoffs in 2017, but they were eliminated in the first round by the Boston Celtics.
He finished with a record of 115-155.
Douglas to Play for Darussafaka
Toney Douglas, who last played in the NBA in 2017 for the Memphis Grizzlies, has agreed to play for Darussafaka, reported Sportando.
He's expected to play his first game this week when they face Maccabi Tel Aviv.
The 32-year old guard joins the team after playing in the EuroLeague for Anadolu Efes, where he averaged 7.9 points over 14 games.
Douglas is a former 29th overall pick in the 2009 draft for the New York Knicks.
He also played for the Houston Rockets, Sacramento Kings, Golden State Warriors, Miami Heat and New Orleans Pelicans.
He has a career average of 7.6 points, 2.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game.
