Casey Johnson

But you don't have to then continue to compound and be like, well, you know, if he really did want to stay, we were going to allow him to stay.

You can just thank him and say, we have an opportunity to do something really exciting with our basketball operation now.

And we thank Billy for understanding the difficult situation that we were in as people who really appreciate what he's done, but knowing that things have to be different.

I don't even think that it needs to be ruthless.

And I do appreciate that that is one of the things that...

that people think about Jerry Reinsdorf is the idea of him taking care of people.

And you and I both know people who have benefited from the loyalty from the top down.

But in some cases, that loyalty has put...

them organizationally in a trick bag, whether we're talking about the White Sox or the Bulls, you don't have to be cutthroat.

You just have to be forward-thinking.

And there are times when I feel like they're not, like they're not seeing it, which is part of the reason why I didn't like Michael speaking until we got word on what Billy was going to do.

And now that you, like those are conversations that, quite honestly, could have happened behind closed doors.

The idea of, no, guys, seriously, you don't want me as the head coach while you're trying to hire a basketball executive.

And then you can come out and say, at the end of it, after Billy's made his decision and everyone is made aware of it, you look like a more buttoned up, smarter orc.

And it can be uncomfortable.

Like, it can be uncomfortable for the people that are in charge because you then wonder, wait, is this person...

Is this person tricking off?

Like, is this person talking about to the owner what it is that's going on in the clubhouse or what's going on in the locker room?

And in some cases, in the Bulls and White Sox history, that was exactly the case.

Yeah, it speaks to you.