Day: April 10, 2020

New Bulls boss could give friend, Raptors assistant Griffin, a long look as coach — Toronto Sun

A big hiring by the Chicago Bulls, aimed at starting the process of restoring that franchise to glory, could have reverberations north of the border too. Read More

New Bulls boss could give friend, Raptors assistant Griffin, a long look as coach — Toronto Sun


Ryan Wolstat

A big hiring by the Chicago Bulls, aimed at starting the process of restoring that franchise to glory, could have reverberations north of the border too.

The Bulls have agreed to a deal with Arturas Karnisovas to be the team’s executive vice-president of basketball operations, according to numerous reports. Karnisovas spent seven years with the Denver Nuggets, first as assistant general manager, before being elevated to GM under president Tim Connelly. Karnisovas helped build Denver into a top team in the Western Conference and previously worked for the Houston Rockets and the NBA’s basketball operations department.

The connection to the Raptors comes from his playing days. Karnisovas, a former European Player of the Year, played for Lithuania (winners of bronze medals in both 1992 and 1996, with help from Karnisovas) against the Dream Team in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and was a star for Seton Hall, including for two years alongside Nick Nurse’s lead assistant with the Raptors, Adrian Griffin, who replaced Karnisovas as Seton Hall’s top player after he graduated. Both are members of Seton Hall’s hall of fame.

The Raptors denied the Bulls permission to speak with general manager Bobby Webster for the job that eventually went to Karnisovas, but it isn’t expected they would stand in the way of a promotion and homecoming for Griffin, who played for the Bulls and was an assistant coach there from 2010 to 2015. The team, whether it’s Nurse, other coaches, or the front office, has long touted his future as a head coach.

“I mean, he is awesome,” fellow Raptors assistant coach Nate Bjorkgren told a few beat writers in February, ironically before the entire staff went to Chicago, for the NBA all-star weekend.

“He has a great demeanour, he’s going to be a great head coach in the NBA,” Bjorkgren said. “He’s got a nice calming presence about him when he’s showing film to the team when he’s talking to the team. So just his overall feel and approach and knowing how to talk to the players is probably his number one strength.”

more…New Bulls boss could give friend, Raptors assistant Griffin, a long look as coach — Toronto Sun

NBA Rumors: Donovan Mitchell ‘Reluctant’ To Mend Fences With Rudy Gobert — NESN.com

Donovan Mitchell has overcome COVID-19, the bout with the virus might prove to have a lasting impact on the Jazz guard. Saturday will mark one month since the NBA officially put the 2019-20 NBA season on pause. The decision came after it was revealed Utah big man Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19. Days prior…

NBA Rumors: Donovan Mitchell ‘Reluctant’ To Mend Fences With Rudy Gobert — NESN.com
Donovan Mitchell has overcome COVID-19, the bout with the virus might prove to have a lasting impact on the Jazz guard. Saturday will mark one month since the NBA officially put the 2019-20 NBA season on pause.
The decision came after it was revealed Utah big man Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19. Days prior to the positive test, Gobert seemingly mocked the severity of the virus by touching all the microphones at a media availability and he reportedly was careless in the locker room as well. Mitchell turned in a positive COVID-19 test one day after his All-Star teammate. But despite both players being cleared of the virus for weeks now, their relationship reportedly remains fractured, per a report from The Athletic.
“The Jazz have already begun working on the Mitchell-Gobert relationship, but sources say Mitchell remains reluctant to fix what might have been broken,” the report reads. The Athletic also was told by a source that the Mitchell-Gobert relationship “doesn’t appear salvageable.”
It will be difficult for all players and teams across the league to pick up where they left off whenever the NBA deems it is safe enough to resume play. But judging from The Athletic’s report, it sounds like it will be particularly challenging for the Jazz, who held the fourth seed in the Western Conference prior to the pause.

Read more at: https://nesn.com/2020/04/nba-rumors-donovan-mitchell-reluctant-to-mend-fences-with-rudy-gobert/

Poll says 72 percent of Americans would not attend games until coronavirus vaccine developed — HardballTalk | NBC Sports

A poll from Seton Hall University found 72 percent of respondents wouldn’t attend sporting events until a COVID-19 vaccine is devleoped.

Poll says 72 percent of Americans would not attend games until coronavirus vaccine developed — HardballTalk | NBC Sports

A poll conducted by The Sharkey Institute at Seton Hall University found that 72 percent of respondents would not attend sports games until a cure for coronavirus (COVID-19) is developed. 12 percent would attend if social distancing practices were instituted and 13 said they would attend, feeling as safe as they had prior to the pandemic.

The sample size was 762 respondents, 348 of which responded from a landline phone and 414 responded via cell phone.

76 percent of respondents felt the leagues acted at the right time to shut down operations and an additional 16 percent felt that the leagues didn’t act quickly enough. Also of interest, 76 percent of fans said they would have the same interest in sports even if they are played without fans.

This poll is of interest, of course, to those running national sports leagues, including Major League Baseball. In recent days, we have learned that MLB was considering having an abbreviated schedule play out entirely in Arizona. Other ideas floated have included running the schedule deep into the fall, playing in largely warm-weather areas, and making use of frequent doubleheaders. Sports leagues and their associated business interests are losing money every day due to the pandemic, so it is understandable why many are willing to get creative to put on a show.