Jim Boylen, who took over as coach of the NBA Chicago Bulls last December, has been given a multi-year contract extension to remain in the post, the team announced Friday.
The 54-year-old American was in his fourth season as associate coach of the Bulls when he was handed control of the club after Fred Hoiberg was fired following a 5-19 start to this past season.
The Bulls went on to finish 22-60, 13th of 15 clubs in the Eastern Conference, but Boylen made an impression as a coach who could get the most from young talent and lift a young team that missed the playoffs for the third time in four seasons.
“He has tremendous passion for developing young talent, is a strong communicator and a good fit for this team,” Bulls executive vice president of basketball operations John Paxson said.
“The organization is confident in the direction that he is taking our players and we are committed to him. Jim has a strong vision on where he wants to take this team, and he has done a great job establishing the culture that we want this organization to stand for as we continue to progress.”
Boylen has more than 20 seasons of NBA coaching experience and more than 30 counting his time with college teams. He served five seasons as an assistant at Michigan State then 11 more as an assistant with the NBA’s Houston Rockets, serving on the staff when they won NBA titles in 1994 and 1995.
Boylen spent a season each after that with Golden State and Milwaukee, returned to Michigan State for two seasons, then spent four years as head coach at the University of Utah before he was fired in 2011.
After that came an NBA return as an assistant with Indiana for two seasons and San Antonio for two more, helping the Spurs to the 2014 NBA crown before joining the Bulls in 2015. (Agence France-Presse)
