Horace Grant knows a thing or two about playing on championship basketball teams. He was part of Phil Jackson’s first three-peat with the Chicago Bulls from 1991-93 and picked up another ring with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2001. So when Grant tells ESPN Chicago that he’d bench the struggling Carlos Boozer, you can bet people are paying attention.
“It will be a long time before I could be a head coach, because I don’t care how much money you get paid,” Grant said. “If you’re not producing more or if I feel you’re hurting the team, especially in the playoffs, I’d bench you.
“If Boozer is having an off-game scoring, he has to do other things. You have to rebound and you’ve got to play defense.”
Boozer has been inconsistent so far throughout the playoffs and has complained that his turf toe injury has caused some of his uneven play. Grant’s answer to that is simple: “If you’re that bothered by it, sit down, seriously.”
What makes Boozer look worse is that Derrick Rose has hurt his ankles, but is still finding ways to break everyone else’s when he steps on the floor. Still, Rose is going to need help. Boozer missed a significant portion of the regular season and the Bulls were still able to be successful. Having depth along their front line with Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson helped tremendously. But if Chicago has any designs on reaching the conference finals or beyond, they will need everyone ready to go. That means Boozer either needs to suck it up or sit down.