Bulls' Jim Boylen to Form Leadership Committee to Help with Coaching Decisions

In an effort to help repair the relationship between head coach Jim Boylen and the players, the Chicago Bulls are forming a leadership committee.

"I want the leadership group because they will have input on what we do and how we operate," Boylen said Tuesday to reporters, per the Chicago Tribune's K.C. Johnson. "It doesn't mean that I'm not the head coach and they're the players. But they're going to be respected as men at this level."

The move comes after The Athletic's Darnell Mayberry reported the Bulls were on "the brink of a full-blown mutiny" on Sunday, a day after a 133-77 shellacking at the hands of the Boston Celtics.

Boylen intended to have the players practice Sunday, but some made it clear they weren't going to follow along with that plan. According to Mayberry, they threw around a possible boycott in addition to a walkout when they arrived at the practice facility.

Yahoo Sports' Vincent Goodwill and Chris Haynes reported Monday the Bulls players even reached out to the National Basketball Players Association to address what they judged to be "extreme tactics" used by Boylen.

The Bulls eventually settled on a pair of meetings Sunday, the first involving just the players and the second including players and coaches.

Following the reporting of the saga, Boylen spoke to reporters and expressed his frustration with the idea the entire Bulls roster had gone against Sunday's planned practice.

On Tuesday, Boylen said the new leadership committee would help avoid a similar problem in the future:

"We had a situation over the weekend that could've been handled by a leadership group walking into my office and saying, 'You know what, Coach? This is how we feel today. What do you think?' That was the teaching moment and the moment we built on (Tuesday) morning. We got a good group of guys and a good leadership group. I'm juiced, man. I'm jacked up about it."

ESPN.com's Malika Andrews and Ramona Shelburne reported Tuesday the topic of a set leadership group came up Sunday during the Bulls' team-wide meeting.

Johnson reported Zach LaVine is on board with the formation of a select committee and noted LaVine's support was important for the Bulls as a whole. The 23-year-old is one of the franchise's long-term cornerstones and "served as one of the most powerful voices at Sunday's meetings," according to Johnson.