The Pool Report interview was conducted by K.C. Johnson (Chicago Sports Network) with Crew Chief Sean Wright following the announcement of the game being postponed.

January 8, 2026

QUESTION: When did you first notice unfavorable court conditions?

WRIGHT: At 9:13 on the warm-up clock, some Miami players came and said the court was really slippery and, at the same time, some Bulls players came over as well.  So, I checked the court conditions and then I immediately got on the horn and notified the Replay Center what was going on.

QUESTION: Why did the decision to delay come all the way down to right before tip-off?

WRIGHT: We weren’t notified until 9:13 on the warm-up clock, that’s why it went down to the zeros.

QUESTION: What was the dialogue like between you, the league and teams as the delay continued?

WRIGHT: We tried to work together to see if we could fix the problem. We had ongoing talks and tried some different stuff on the court, and nothing seemed to work.

QUESTION: What ultimately led to the decision to postpone the game?

WRIGHT: Player safety is always the most important. Despite the efforts by the United Center to rectify the situation, we were unsuccessful in doing so. We decided that player safety was most important and we just couldn’t guarantee a safe on-court experience.