Bulls fans are still reeling from the Jimmy Butler trade — the fact that he’s with the Timberwolves now, and the fact that the Bulls didn’t get enough value from the trade. It was a trade that earned a big, fat F from us, as well as other publications.
Bulls fans are trying to buy a billboard to promote the firing of the front office
Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images
So now what? Well, one segment of the Bulls’ fandom is taking it upon themselves to let it be known how much the front office has done a poor job over the past few years. A fan named Brendon Henderson (also known as “bshendy” on Reddit) started a GoFundMe to buy a billboard that will call for the firing of front office figures Gar Forman and John Paxson, otherwise known as “#FireGarPax.”
The fundraiser’s ultimate goal, which is placed at $15,000, is to buy a billboard in a location that has the highest traffic in the Chicagoland area. As of writing, Henderson’s raised over $3,800, which already fulfills one stretch goal, according to the page:
$2,000 - We can afford a billboard! It would be a digital billboard located on Madison street. It is relatively small, but it will be right next to the United Center and we can quickly put our message there for 4 weeks, and for a whole minute in intervals.
The fundraiser also states that the money will also go to charity if it falls short:
If we don’t make our goal, the money will be donated to the South Side YMCA of Metro Chicago. Any excess money will be donated as well. This YMCA features a great youth basketball program.
This is not the first time Bulls fans voiced opposition to the team’s front office. Blog A Bull, our Bulls blog, has spent many, many words criticizing them, from calling them an organizational failure to calling for Gar Forman’s firing. There was even a #FireGarPax protest when the Clippers played Chicago in March on national TV.
I suspect these protests won’t do much to budge the front office, that the executives know about them, but don’t really feel like listening. There will eventually be a day when both Forman and Paxson are ousted, but I predict that won’t happen for a couple more years. This prediction is coming from me, a Bulls fan who was really bummed about the Jimmy Butler trade, and bought a fidget spinner to lift my spirits. It didn’t lift my spirits.
(via r/chicagobulls)
