Zach LaVine doesn’t play the role of villain very well.
He’s trying. That was again evident immediately following the improbable comeback win over the Miami Heat on Saturday, when LaVine all but stormed off toward the locker room while his Bulls teammates were celebrating on the court.
A bad look made worse by the two-time All-Star guard when cameras caught him pulling his arm away in anger from public relations director Beth Esler as she was trying to get him to do the post-game interview with the flagship television station.
“Just a miscommunication with the PR team,’’ LaVine said afterward when asked about the incident. “We’re all fine.’’
Not really, as sources indicated that the front office was made aware of the situation immediately and was less than thrilled with LaVine’s actions. When coach Billy Donovan found out about what happened he was downright ticked.
“I’m happy we got a win,’’ LaVine continued. “We play these (Miami) guys in a couple of days. You don’t want to just sit around and celebrate. I’d rather celebrate in locker room.’’
A solid explanation by the team’s newest villain? Not the case. It just came across as petty from a guy that wants to be elsewhere and was no longer denying that fact.
The Bulls and LaVine are undoubtedly headed for a breakup. When and to which team he goes are still unknowns, but how he ends his Bulls tenure is something LaVine has full control over. Going from very likeable and media friendly to pouty Klutch Sports talent is not a good look, and frankly one that LaVine will find tough to pull off.
Being the 16th-highest paid player in the NBA but well outside the top 25 talent-wise, and then becoming difficult to be around? Good luck. It’s not his personality.
So if his post-game actions weren’t just an act to remind his front office to move him sooner than later, what could have actually set him off?
Was it another slow start by the Bulls, falling behind 22-1 to start the game? Maybe. But what was more likely was LaVine hitting two key threes mid-way through the fourth to keep the Bulls within striking distance of Miami, only to see DeMar DeRozan play hero and deliver the knockout punches in crunch time.
It was DeRozan’s lethal mid-range game that put the Bulls up a basket with 21.2 seconds left, and then his free throws down the stretch to ice the game.
Like he has so many times the past few seasons, DeRozan bailing the Bulls out of a sticky situation. Heck, DeRozan even stepped in as the replacement interview after LaVine stormed off.
Yet afterwards, it was DeRozan who credited LaVine for not only his scoring in the fourth, but his defense and play-making late in the game.
“He made some big plays and without what he did offensively and defensively we don’t pull this one out,’’ DeRozan said.
He was asked if all the trade speculation around LaVine was a reason the Bulls were having these slow first quarters since the news came out on Monday, and again made sure to take LaVine off the hook for that.
“I don’t think so because before the story even came out we were getting our ass kicked in the first quarter,’’ DeRozan said. “That’s just an us thing. We can’t just find something that’s going on with the outside and pinpoint it to that. I don’t think that’s it at all.’’
Spoken like a good teammate.
LaVine might want to take a refresher course on that.
