The Bulls fell to the Hawks 119-114 in Chicago on Wednesday night, and Dwyane Wade and Jimmy Butler were less than pleased. The Bulls are currently one game below .500 and barely holding on to the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference. They’ve been a hard team to predict this year with a roster that many criticized before the season even started. In the locker room postgame, Wade and Butler both expressed their concerns with the effort the rest of the team is giving.
Wade said this loss hurts him more than younger players and that shouldn't be case. "I don't know if people care enough."
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) January 26, 2017
Butler chimed in as well, echoing everything that Wade was saying. “If you don’t come in mother f****** pissed off every game, any game. If you’re not pissed off that you lost, something is wrong. This is your job. This is what you’re supposed to love to do.”
Jimmy Butler wants the Bulls to care more pic.twitter.com/FshLPDyjuC
— Cody Westerlund (@CodyWesterlund) January 26, 2017
On a night where Butler had 40 points and Wade scored 33, they didn’t get much help from the rest of their team. That said, Butler was not happy with late game shot choices.
Butler: "I understand if you’ve got an open shot take it. But at a point in the game like that, you gotta get the ball to your best players"
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) January 26, 2017
Wade did not sugarcoat who he was talking about in these quotes either. He made sure to clarify he was talking about everyone else on the roster except Butler.
Wade: "I can look at Jimmy and say Jimmy is doing his job. I think Jimmy can look at me and say Dwyane is doing his job. (cont.)
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) January 26, 2017
Wade: " I don’t know if we can keep going down the line and be able to say that."
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) January 26, 2017
Rajon Rondo, who was supposed to be a big part of the Bulls this season, has barely seen playing time over the last few weeks. Against the Hawks, he only played 10 minutes, scoring three points and handing out three assists.
After the game Jerian Grant and Isaiah Canaan took to Twitter to voice their opinion on the comments.
Tough loss, that hurt for sure. But I play hard TO WIN every second I'm out there, and grind everyday for everything I have.
— Jerian Grant (@JerianGrant) January 26, 2017
Tough Loss!!! We Win & Lose Together #FreeSip
— Isaiah Canaan (@SiP03) January 26, 2017
The NBA trade deadline is Feb. 23, so the Bulls still have chances to make some moves. It sounds like Wade and Butler just want to see some extra effort from their teammates.