DEERFIELD, Ill. -- Tim Floyd arrived hoping to coach Michael Jordan and add more NBA championships to the Chicago Bulls' illustrious dynasty.

	Tim Floyd was quick to leave the Bulls' practice facility after Monday's news conference.

Instead, he walks away with the dynasty in shambles, a record filled with losses and no sign the Bulls will get better any time soon.

In a move surprising only for its timing, Floyd resigned Monday afternoon after going 49-190 in three-plus seasons with the Bulls.

"This was an incredible opportunity, and things just didn't work out," he said. "I would have hoped for more. I believed in this place wholeheartedly, I believed in this organization.

"I have really tried to give my best effort and sometimes that's not enough. ... I think it's going to provide hope for a lot of people that maybe this next coach could be the guy who can help the Bulls go to where they ultimately need to be."

The Bulls are 4-21 this year, the worst record in the NBA. Assistant Bill Berry was appointed interim head coach, and general manager Jerry Krause said the search for a replacement could take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks.

Chicago's next game is Wednesday night in Memphis. The team's assistant coaches, Phil Johnson and Norm Ellenberger, also left the team Monday.

"We need to go on from here," said Krause, who refused to take questions. "This organization will go on from here."

A successful college coach, Floyd was put in an almost impossible situation from the start. When Jordan retired after the Bulls won their sixth NBA title in the 1990s, Krause decided to blow up the championship gang.

Instead of Jordan and Scottie Pippen, Floyd got players like Kornel David and Rusty LaRue. Big-name free agents spurned the cash Krause threw at them, forcing the Bulls to rebuild around draft picks.

But the rebuilding has yet to work, and the losses piled up.

"I know he's a competitor, I know he wanted to win more than anybody," said Bulls second-year forward Marcus Fizer, who also played for Floyd at Iowa State. "He came to work each and every day looking forward to winning.

"I personally don't know how he's lasted this long with that burden of not being able to win as many games as he'd wanted to."

This season might have been the worst. Krause took a huge gamble on draft day last summer, using the fourth overall pick on high schooler Eddy Curry. Then he shipped former No. 1 pick Elton Brand to the Los Angeles Clippers for the rights to another prep player, Tyson Chandler.

While Brand is averaging a double-double, the high schoolers have seen little playing time and sometimes appeared confused about their roles.

Charles Oakley, brought in to provide leadership, has instead clashed with Floyd and criticized team management. Oakley was even fined $50,000 for one of his outbursts. There also was a run-in with Ron Artest over how injured players should dress when they're sitting on the bench.

"Every day has been hell," Floyd said earlier this season. "It hasn't been fun."

Floyd had said all along he wouldn't resign. He repeated that just three weeks ago, after a team meeting where he reportedly told players he'd ask Krause to be relieved of his duties if players undermined him.

But the losses and bickering obviously finally got to be too much.

"I wish everybody associated with this place the absolute very best and I think this will be best for everybody," Floyd said. "Sometimes there are days when you get to eat the bear, and some days the bear eats you.

"This was just one of those times in my life that it didn't go exactly like I would have hoped it would have gone."

Though there were rumblings about a power struggle between Floyd and Krause, Floyd said the decision to resign was his. Krause, using profanity, also denied any clash.

But when Floyd singled out people in the organization for thanks, Krause wasn't one of them. Floyd did thank chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, saying, "I think Jerry Reinsdorf is a good man, a misunderstood man."

Floyd has three years left on his contract, which pays him a reported $2 million a year. It wasn't clear if the Bulls bought it out, and Krause didn't address it.

Asked if he planned to coach again, Floyd said he wasn't sure.

"I don't feel any real need to go out and prove that I can coach, based on what happened prior to here," he said. "There may be a point where I decide I want to do that again. That's one of the luxuries this afforded me, is the ability to make those kind of choices down the road."