Fans are not happy with the Bulls’ front office.
After trading Jimmy Butler to the Minnesota Timberwolves and selling their second round draft pick to the Golden State Warriors, some disgruntled fans decided they have had enough.
Brendon Henderson, 22, was in a Bulls’ fan Reddit forum when the Bulls traded their No. 2 pick to the Warriors.
“That was the final straw,” Henderson said.
Rather than continuing to express distaste toward general manager Gar Forman and vice president of basketball operations John Paxson through social media channels, Henderson decided to take initiative and do something about it.
He created a GoFundMe page Friday, hoping to raise enough money to purchase a billboard that would call for the firing of Gar-Pax after their controversial draft duelings.
“This past NBA draft is the final straw,” Henderson wrote on the GoFundMe page. “Not only did we trade Jimmy Butler for a value equivalent to a Diet Sprite and a Snickers bar, but we traded away one of the best defensive talents in the 2nd round for… cash???”
The page surpassed its original goal of $2,000 within a day and has raised nearly $7,000 in three days.
“I didn’t imagine that we would be able to get to that much and I didn’t think it’d be that quickly,” said Henderson, who has been a Bulls fan his entire life. “It’s definitely been something that I tried to keep pace with.”
Henderson said the fundraiser was initially going to donate excess money to South Side YMCA of Metro Chicago. But after speaking with the YMCA, Henderson said the club is not longer a part of their campaign because it was a conflict of interest for the YMCA, which receives donations from the Bulls.
Henderson is currently looking for other nonprofit organizations like the Boys and Girls Club and Big Brothers and Big Sisters Program to donate money toward.
“The billboard is for the community,” Henderson said. “So for excess money I wanted to give back to the community as well.”
Although Henderson is still trying to finalize a billboard design and location, he said fans can expect the billboard to debut next month.
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