Tiago Splitter has been watching the Bulls from afar.
Not just Wednesday morning before his introductory news conference at the Advocate Center, not just earlier this season when he was a thousand miles away trying to right the ship in Portland, and not just years ago when he was a championship player in San Antonio.
“I’m actually a Bulls fan myself,” Splitter admitted. “Growing up in Brazil, I watched many games late at night, hidden from my parents at 1 am, watching MJ [Michael -Jordan] games and rooting for the Bulls. So super excited to be here.”
A feeling that was very mutual.
Executive vice president of basketball -operations Bryson Graham introduced Splitter as the organization’s 25th coach and did so by first explaining how the monthlong process ended with the former Trail Blazers interim coach. A process that began with a wide net, involved numerous zoom calls, whittled down to a final four of Minnesota assistant Micah Nori, Atlanta’s Ryan Schmidt, and in-house candidate Wes Unseld Jr., and then led to the final decision.
“Couldn’t be more excited,” Graham said. “He’s what we’re looking for. Why Tiago? There are so many things we can go into but the things that stood out to me are he’s smart, he’s curious as a coach in a game that’s always changing, he wants to get better. He’s got the right level of competitiveness, he’s a good communicator, he connects well with players, he’s been in that locker room and won at a really high level, and he’s got a vision, and that is so important when you are embarking on something like this because we are at the ground floor.
“When you are going through a lot of hard times as a coach, whatever, a player, a front office staff, you’ve got to be in the foxhole with someone you trust, and there’s no one more that I want to be in that foxhole with than [Splitter].”
Especially with Splitter’s most recent “foxhole” experience.
The 41-year-old began his NBA coaching career in 2019, joining the Nets staff. But it was this last season that put him on the map, as he was vaulted from assistant to becoming the Trail Blazers’ coach, inheriting a complete mess in the wake of former head man Chauncey Billups’ arrest in connection with an illegal gambling investigation.
In the wake of that news it felt like the Trail Blazers were about to sink into the NBA’s lottery basement, but Splitter had other ideas. Not only did he refocus the group to a 42-40 record and the play-in tournament, but he also beat the Suns in that first game to capture the No. 7 seed and make the postseason.
Along the way he helped Deni Avdija -become a first-time All-Star and former No. 3 pick Scoot Henderson somewhat resurrected his young career, turning the Blazers into a grind-it-out, hard-hat group.
That didn’t go unnoticed and not just by Graham. Several teams were interested in Splitter, including the Trail Blazers.
Their ownership group blinked while Graham and the Bulls didn’t. As Splitter said several times during his presser, “now it’s time to get to work.”
“It’s going to be a lot of work, it’s going to take some time,” Splitter said. “I know what it takes and I know the responsibility I have and the expectations that come with being the head coach of the Chicago Bulls. I’m ready and I can’t wait to start and work.
“I have a vision, I have a way I want to play, but you also have to explore what they do best. That’s what we’re going to do here. I can guarantee you one thing: We’re going to compete every night and we’re going to have high standards with everything we do.”