Bulls Executive Under Fire for Message to Fans After Season-Ending Loss to Heat
But on Thursday, after losing at home to the Heat in the East No. 9-10 play-in game, Karnisovas did, indeed, ask for patience, despite having put together a team that has made just one playoff appearance in five seasons.
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The Bulls won just one game in that series. They raised hopes by finishing this year on a 15-5 run, but were out of gas in the play-in and will be home in April once again.
Chicago Bulls vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images
Said Karnisovas: "I'm asking fans for patience because we're in first year of that transition. I thought that the way we finished the year shows some promise. It's hard to win games in this league, to finish 15-5 it's not a victory lap, but I think there are some positives.
"I think we've gotta keep on building on this group by adding another player in the lottery, going into free agency and adding another piece. Obviously, going into this summer, that's when the players get better. So hopefully our young group will focus this summer on getting better and come back so we can make another jump next year."
The patience angle did not play well, at all, among the team's fan, or among media around the team. As longtime NBA analyst Trey Kerby pointed out, the Kings removed GM Monte McNair this week for having produced much the same record as Karnisovas.
SB Nation's Ricky O'Donnell noted on Twitter/X, "Arturas Karnisovas every year when the Bulls have a good March after otherwise sucking (expletive) all season."
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Joe Cowley of the Sun-Times added, "This AK presser was not as depressing as the trade deadline presser, but it was disheartening to hear there is no real plan to get out of mediocrity. This is a slow boat to nowhere…"
And fans added their own frustration.
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