During the first few weeks of summer, Zach LaVine traded in his basketball shoes for new gear: boxing gloves.

It started as a practical measure as LaVine healed from a February surgery to repair an unhealed Jones fracture — essentially a floating bone — in his right foot. He needed cross-training options that would give him a cardio challenge while putting minimal strain on his arch.

LaVine sought training at TheBox – a boxing gym in Costa Mesa, California – to improve his endurance and fitness. Training with the mitts and heavy bag quickly devolved into hopping into the ring at the gym, where LaVine learned a quick lesson about how boxers define a “friendly sparring session.”

“I walked in there with a couple of guys where — look, I’m not afraid to fight, but you don’t want to fight those guys,” LaVine said with a laugh.

Those weeks in the gym helped LaVine regain his fitness while having fun — an underrated effort for athletes nearing the end of a long-term rehabilitation process after injury.

And as the Bulls try to establish one of the most physically demanding offenses in the league, LaVine relies on this training for mental and physical endurance.

“Those three-minute rounds — you against him,” LaVine, 29, said. “Every mistake you make will knock you down. It takes mental strength to really commit to what you’re doing. This has helped me this year because when I’m tired or upset about something, I can think with a little more clarity. Playing basketball isn’t as hard as someone trying to take you out.”

This season was always going to be a struggle for the Bulls. The front office assembled a young, undersized roster and traded away its best defensive assets. As a result, coach Billy Donovan coined a preseason mantra – “If we don’t run, we’re done” – that quickly became both the ethos of the new offensive system and a well-known saying among the team.

So far the message has been received. With an average of 104.82 plays per 48 minutes, the Bulls are setting the fastest pace in the league. It’s not just the fastest speed in the league this season – it’s one of the fastest in NBA history.

The Bulls have quickly become a frontrunner in a years-long trend of offensive schemes across the league. Ten seasons ago, no team had a pace over 100. Last season, ten teams finished in triple digits. The Bulls’ current pace would be the fastest ever recorded, excluding the shortened 2019-2020 season in which the Milwaukee Bucks finished with a pace of 105.51.

At least for now it works. Although the Bulls’ offense is still not particularly efficient, it averages the fourth-most points (118.9) in the league, a total enough to outweigh their weak defense.

And LaVine is at the center of the changing style of play — even if he takes fewer shots, plays fewer minutes and spends significantly less time with the ball in his hands.

Scoring points has never been a problem for LaVine. In October 2023, while playing with a broken foot, he scored a career-high 51 points and dropped more than 40 points five times in the 2022-23 season. But LaVine doesn’t know if he needs to pull off a 40-point game this season. It’s not the scheme or style of this version of the Bulls.