CHICAGO (670 The Score) -- Bulls guard Zach LaVine found himself in an awkward position during an appearance on "First Take" on ESPN on Friday morning.
Sitting on set for an interview at Navy Pier, LaVine listened as ESPN personality Max Kellerman asked whether LaVine had confidence in the Bulls front office to get him help on a team that's struggling at 19-36 at the All-Star break. When LaVine began to answer, fans in the back of the set on the live show broke out in a "fire GarPax" chant, calling for the ouster of Bulls executives John Paxson and Gar Forman.
A day later, LaVine weighed in with his thoughts Saturday morning at media availability ahead of him participating in the 3-point contest in the evening.
"You guys know I’m pretty good with the media and being able to move around that," LaVine said. "I don’t speak for the fans. Obviously, I think the fans in Chicago have been frustrated. But you guys know me personally: I’m with the team. I’m the one who puts on the uniform and I step in front of the fans and do my job. It wasn’t tough. It gets rowdy. I know Chicago fans get rowdy too. It is what it is. Things happen in the spur of the moment. You just have to deal with it."
A “Fire GarPax” chant broke out during Zach LaVine’s interview on First Take, and LaVine doesn’t seem to hate it -- pic.twitter.com/aVsbzeEDD7
— Jeremy Layton (@JeremyLayt0n)
February 14, 2020 LaVine was then asked what his message would be for Bulls fans during these trying times.
"I appreciate the fans who have stayed loyal," LaVine said. "Me personally, I appreciate all the fans who support me and come each game. I feel like I’m somebody they can trust and somebody who puts the work in. I don’t care if we’re down 100 or up 100. You’re going to get the same reaction from me, the same determination to try to win. We’re trying to win. You know me personally. I want to do nothing but win. I just want to say thank you to them."
Cody Westerlund is a sports editor for 670TheScore.com and covers the Bulls. Follow him on Twitter @CodyWesterlund.
