CHICAGO, United States (AFP) — Chicago Bulls stars Dwyane Wade and Jimmy Butler blasted their teammates in the wake of an embarrassing home loss on Wednesday that saw the Atlanta Hawks erase a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit for 119-114 triumph.
Butler scored 40 points and Wade added 33, but their efforts went for nothing as the Bulls collapsed down the stretch.
“I don’t know if I see enough guys who really want it,” said Wade, who won three NBA championships with the Miami Heat before joining Chicago as a free agent prior to this season.
“Losses like this, it has to hurt them. I’m 35-years old, man. I got three championships. It shouldn’t hurt me more than it hurts these young guys. They have to want it.
“I wish that I could say that everyone in here is going to go home and not eat tonight,” Wade said. “I can’t say that. I wish I could, but I don’t know if it hurts. Games like this are supposed to hurt you. You’re not supposed to sleep. You don’t want to go up and talk to nobody. These games are supposed to hurt. I don’t know if it’s in the guys in this locker room.”
Butler, 27, was no less scathing.
“We weren’t guarding anybody, doing whatever we wanted to do, and we lost,” Butler said after his fifth game with at least 40 points this season. “Story of our year. Over and over. Same thing. It’s not the first time we’ve seen this. It’s not the first time we’ve done it.”
The Hawks, who trailed for most of the game, notched their third win over the Bulls in as many games this season.
The Bulls, winners of six NBA titles in the 1990s era of league legend Michael Jordan, have not made it past the second round of the playoffs since 2011.
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