Report: Bulls dismiss key training staffers
The Chicago Bulls have reportedly released two key members from their training staff after a season in which the team suffered 211 absences due to injury.
Director of sports performance Jen Swanson and head strength coach Nick Papendieck have been let go, a source tells ESPN's Nick Friedell.
Swanson was hired in 2013, largely owing to her history with oft-injured point guard Derrick Rose.
While working for Athletes Performance in Los Angeles, Swanson helped Rose with his recovery from an ACL tear in his left knee that he suffered in 2012. However, Rose missed the balance of the 2012-13 campaign and played just 10 games the season thereafter. Sources told Friedell that Swanson's rehab plans irked others on the team.
Rose finally regained his health last season when he made 66 appearances around minor eye and ankle injuries. But his return was mitigated by injuries to Butler and Joakim Noah, among others.
Crippling injuries, dating back to Rose's first ACL tear, have come to define a frustrating era for the Bulls.
Chicago will pursue Jimmy Butler's personal trainer Travelle Gaines for the position of strength coach, reports the Chicago Tribune's K.C. Johnson, but the Minnesota Timberwolves - now headed up by former Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau - are apparently also interested in Gaines.