Lauri Markkanen spills the beans on near mutiny that happened during the Jim Boylen era

It was not a happy time for Markkanen and the Bulls.

© Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

As disjointed as the Chicago Bulls are this season, it pales in comparison to the dysfunction that the 2018-2019 squad experienced under then-head coach Jim Boylen. Tasked with taking the coaching reins after Fred Hoiberg, Boylen tried to play the role of "tough sheriff" with the young core. 

As it turns out, that didn't go as well as he had hoped.

A near-boycott of practice

Former Bull and current Utah Jazz star Lauri Markkanen spoke to former NBA sharpshooter JJ Redick on his "The Old Man and The Three" podcast and spilled the beans on that infamous practice near-boycott. The Bulls were coming off a 133-77 shellacking by the Boston Celtics — the worst loss in franchise history. Adding insult to injury, Boylen said the team would practice the next day, despite just playing a back-to-back set.

The team would have none of that, and soon, talks were ripe amongst the players about boycotting practice. Markkanen — only in his second year in the league — was one of the few who disagreed with the plan, citing the unprofessionalism of such a plan and the impact it may have on their respective careers.

"There started talks that we weren't going. And it ended up being a situation where we were standing in the parking lot when the practice was about to start and we're like, 'what are we doing? Now, we have to stick together,'" said Markkanen.

Cooler heads eventually prevailed as the players reported for duty and had an intense two-hour meeting amongst themselves and the coaches.

A weird time to look back on

It was a weird time for Markkanen, who often struggled under Boylen. After a successful sophomore season wherein he averaged a then-career-high of 18.7 points on 15 attempts per game, those numbers plummeted to 14.7 points on 11 attempts per contest in the Finnish star's third season. 

When he asked Boylen about this, the coach responded by saying Markkanen should focus more on getting defensive rebounds.

"When I spoke with Jim, we talked about how I should concentrate on getting rebounds and then leading the fast break. But it's just really hard getting 40 defensive rebounds," said Markkanen.