On a cold Chicago night in late February, the Bulls were down 10 with 30 seconds to go, moments away from their eighth loss in a row. It was the first night of a back-to-back and many fans had begun shuffling toward the United Center exits. Just about everyone wanted to go home.
Except for Jim Boylen. The 55-year-old head coach, who was relieved of his duties as Bulls head coach on Friday after two losing seasons, did something in that moment that coaches rarely do in this hopeless situation: Boylen called a timeout.
The Bulls had a 0.