'Fire Hoiberg' chants break out in Chicago following Bulls loss

The United Center crowd was unforgiving on Friday night. The visiting Boston Celtics took control early and the crowd fell silent, acting more like they were attending a mid-December game rather than a playoff match-up with their team’s season on the line. Then, they booed new Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky when he appeared on the Jumbotron. And when the Bulls’ losing fate became inevitable, they began to chant calling for head coach Fred Hoiberg’s job.

“Fire Hoiberg,” they sang.

A camera caught Celtics coach Brad Stevens mouthing “shut up,” probably in defense of Hoiberg.

The crowd got the chant up more than once.

In his postgame press conference, Hoiberg said that he understood why fans were frustrated.

“It was a frustrating game, there’s no doubt about that,” Hoiberg said. “Again, the high note to start this series, the way we got out to a 2-0 lead, and we couldn’t finish it off.”

The Bulls have had a roller coaster of a season: Rajon Rondo was suspended for throwing a towel at an assistant coach. Dwyane Wade’s big return home was dampened by a mid-season elbow injury. Jimmy Butler and Wade have both been vocal about frustrations with teammates not putting in enough effort. Then they finished the season at .500, grabbed the eight seed, got up 2-0 on the Celtics on the road and then struggled to make anything else happen.

So players, fans and the coaching staff all have the right to be a little upset.

Realistically, though, Hoiberg’s job probably isn’t on the line. The Bulls missed the playoffs in his first season (2015-16) as head coach but snagged Denzel Valentine with their lottery pick. Hoiberg still has time to iron out the wrinkles in the Bulls roster and get them back on track to make a deeper playoff run next season.

The bigger question for the Bulls isn’t whether or not Hoiberg will be on the floor come fall, but if All Star and franchise player Butler will. Rondo and Wade, two other key players in the Bulls lineup, will have offseason choices to make as well. Rondo’s contract is partially guaranteed and Wade has a player option.