The Bulls’ search for Phil Jackson’s replacement is starting to have as many plot twists as your average soap opera.
Bulls General Manager Jerry Krause was supposed to discuss his team’s vacant head coaching position with Phoenix Suns assistant Scott Skiles on Tuesday in Chicago. But Skiles’ flight from Indianapolis was canceled because of bad weather, postponing his meeting for a couple of days.
In the meantime, Bulls assistant Frank Hamblen said that while he is flattered to have been mentioned as one of the leading candidates for the job, Krause has yet to discuss the position with him.
Charlotte assistant Paul Silas, another possible candidate, is on vacation for the next week. The most talked-about candidate, Iowa State coach Tim Floyd, continues to keep his lips sealed as tightly as Krause’s.
And the man who will no doubt have some say in how all this plays out, Michael Jordan, has made himself scarce while the NBA is in the midst of a lockout, thus preventing Bulls Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf from getting his official opinion on whom the next coach should be.
So much for the Bulls’ attempts to have Jackson’s replacement in place as early as the end of this week. It would be illuminating to know what Krause and Reinsdorf think about where things are, but both have indicated they do not intend to give daily progress reports on their search.
In fact, Bulls officials are being so tight-lipped that Hamblen doesn’t even know what’s going on, beyond what he reads in the papers, sees on television and hears on the radio.
Hamblen, a 27-year coaching veteran who just completed his second year with the Bulls, said he hadn’t given much thought to a speculative scenario that had him taking over as head coach to appease Bulls veterans Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman.
This would open the door for Krause to put Floyd in place as an assistant for up to two seasons, delaying the inevitable rebuilding process until Jordan, Pippen and Rodman are gone.
It sounds almost too good to be true to Hamblen, 51, whose only head coaching experience came when he went 23-42 as interim coach in Milwaukee after Del Harris was dumped during the 1991-92 season.
“I appreciate the fact my name keeps coming up, but I haven’t been approached about being the head coach,” Hamblen said Tuesday. “So I really don’t consider myself a candidate right now.”
Hamblen said the only discussions he has had with Krause came after Jackson left. Krause met with remaining members of the coaching staff–Hamblen and fellow assistants Tex Winter and Bill Cartwright–and gave them a timetable for putting a new coach in place.
“Jerry just explained his process,” Hamblen said. “He has a list of five or six people and he’s going through the process. Beyond that, we’ll just have to see what happens.”
Of the five or six people on the Bulls’ list, Floyd apparently already has been contacted, at least according to Iowa State President Martin Jischke, who said Floyd has kept the university “apprised of those discussions.” Floyd is a longtime friend of Krause’s.
Also last week, Krause asked the Suns for permission to talk with Skiles, who is coming off his first season as Danny Ainge’s top assistant. Skiles also has been mentioned as a candidate for head coaching vacancies with the Los Angeles Clippers and Denver Nuggets.
