chicago_suntimes
If Chauncey Billups had been more like Dr.
Jack Ramsay and less like Tony The Ant Spilotro, we wouldnt even be talking about Tiago Splitter.
That much is certain.But Billups blew up his life, Splitter grabbed the controls as interim coach of the Trail Blazers only one game into the 2025-26 season, the team proceeded to weather various storms and exceed all expectations and, well, here we are.Splitter, 41, is the new coach of the Bulls, having ascended to a level of employment he wasnt close to reaching as recently as a couple of years ago.I think we have a great future in front of us, he said Wednesday during his introductory press conference at the Advocate Center.The Brazilian Splitter, a former championship center with the Spurs, spent the 2023-24 season as a Rockets assistant under Ime Udoka.
If there was an A-team among Udokas six assistants, Splitter didnt seem to be on it.
In case anyone couldnt find him, he was the 6-11 dude sitting behind the bench as in not on it.A head coaching job in the NBA didnt really feel in view at that point.
Thats what drove Splitter to take a head job in the top French league after one season in Houston.
It didnt hurt his cause that his Paris team won the championship.Theres a label that people put on you, right? Foreign, big guy, 6-11 you dont see many of those [among NBA coaches].
So I was behind the bench in Houston with the Rockets, and I wanted to prove people wrong.
...I wanted to lead a team.
I wanted to be a head coach.
I wanted to get a group of guys where they didnt expect to be and get them better, and I did that in Paris.
[Then] I came back to the NBA, stuff happened and I got a chance to lead a team again and do the same thing.So what does that make Splitter, a team builder? A momentum changer? A big man who gets the wide-open nuances of the modern game better than most?I dont like to put labels on people, he said.
I hate when they put it on me.
And I like to prove people wrong.Thats twice at his introduction that he mentioned proving people wrong.
One has to suspect he feels that way toward the Blazers, who apparently werent impressed enough with his services to do whatever they had to do in order to stay in the Tiago Splitter business.The narrative making its way around the league is that Blazers owner Tom Dundon is sports ultimate billionaire cheapskate, to such an extent he wouldnt have offered Splitter who reportedly had to interview for the head position anything better than bargain-basement money to stay.
And that Splitter wasnt about to acquiesce to such nonsense.Maybe thats true.
It might also be true that Splitter just wasnt the Blazers guy.I want to keep that behind, he said.
I respect all opinions, but I think theres too many things being said already and I think thats enough.
Im past that and want to think about the Chicago Bulls.There are reasons to buy into Splitters people skills, for whatever they might be worth.
Certainly, his players in Portland had good things to say about him.As a player with the Spurs, Splitter was an important figure on a winning team that reputedly took positive chemistry to a rarely seen level.
Aging Tim Duncan and Tony Parker were still the main stars, along with up-and-comer Kawhi Leonard, but the Foreign Legion Spurs, utterly loaded with quality depth Boris Diaw, Patty Mills, ex-Bull Marco Belinelli, a still-ticking Manu Ginobili, sometimes-starter Splitter had good vibes galore and a hero for every moment in the 2014 Finals.When the Spurs traded Splitter a year later, needed to create room for newcomer LaMarcus Aldridge, Ginobili called it painful and coach Gregg Popovich said he was gutted, telling reporters how important Splitter had been to the teams psyche and fiber.Doesnt sound like a bad sort for the young Bulls to have around.Hes what were looking for, Bulls executive vice president of basketball operations Bryson Graham said.RelatedTiago Splitter brings foxhole mentality to his new Bulls coaching seatBulls officially get their man as Tiago Splitter is named head coachBut Splitter has gone from behind the bench to here in a hurry, and this isnt the first time the Bulls have made a first-time NBA head coach of a man whose previous team didnt demonstrate that it regarded him as such.
In 2008, then-GM John Paxson went with Vinny Del Negro, whod been working under then-Suns GM Steve Kerr.
Kerr needed a coach and gave Del Negro an interview but didnt make him a finalist for the job.
The Bulls went 41-41 twice, with no playoff series wins, on Del Negros watch before he was fired.Splitter tells of staying awake deep into the night at home in the 1990s, hiding from his parents, so he could watch Michael Jordan and the Bulls make championship magic.
Were going to assume there was no late-night Bulls binging from 2008 to 2010.Look, this job isnt easy.
Ask Billy Donovan, for one.Its going to be a lot of work, Splitter said.
Its going to take some time.
[But] I know what it takes.Prove-it time has arrived..