The Bulls hired Doug Collins as a senior advisor on Tuesday. In his introductory press conference at Chicago’s Advocate Center, the 66-year-old former TV analyst used the phrase “woke” as a means of pushing back against critics suggesting the game has passed him by.
Doug Collins says he’s ‘woke,’ may have no idea what it means
Collins and Kyrie Irving have both claimed to be “woke,” though using the term in 2 very different ways.
”I’m old. Let me finish. But I’m not old school. I’ve got a young brain,” Collins said on Tuesday. “And I think you get pigeonholed: That guy is old school because he’s old. Now, if being on time and working hard and doing all those things are old school, then yes, I’m old school.
“But I will match my wits with anybody in terms of young people, in terms of what’s going on now and what’s happening. So, I am woke.”
That’s cool and all, except one thing: that’s not exactly what the word “woke” means.
“Woke,” a term whose overuse has all but stripped it of its meaning, originally referred to being aware of different socioeconomic issues that plague communities throughout the nation.
It means knowing what the heck is going on in your own backyard. It doesn’t mean keeping your mind as sharp as someone younger.
Kyrie Irving also famously, and oddly, used “woke” in a recent interview on ESPN’s First Take.
Collins’ last NBA stop was with the 76ers, where he coached Philly to a 34-48 record in 2012-13 just before Sam Hinkie blew everything up. He’s put together an above-.500 442-407 coaching record in different stops with Philadelphia, Washington, Detroit, and originally Chicago.
But the hire enraged Bulls fans, including our Ricky O’Donnell and lifelong Bulls fan Russ Bengston. Just look at this excerpt from Ricky’s piece on Blog a Bull after Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf spoke on how much he loves Collins and values their relationship.
“I love Doug Collins,” Reinsdorf told the Tribune at the time. “It’s not a great thing for friends to jeopardize a relationship for business. And relationships with coaches always end at some point.”
Don’t confuse that quote as a measured approach from Bulls management. In reality, Reinsdorf was telling on himself. This has always been a franchise that values personal relationships over the pursuit of new information, loyalty over ambition and complacency over winning. It’s exactly what led them back to Doug Collins on Tuesday.
If the hiring of Collins to a senior advisor role technically came out of the blue, it hardly felt like a surprise. The Bulls will paint this as an opportunity to add a fresh set of eyes to their makeover, the chance to bring a new voice to the room as they embark on another rebuild nine years later. That is, of course, bullshit: Doug Collins isn’t a shift from the status quo, he is the status quo.
Stay woke, Chicago.
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