33 years ago today, Michael Jordan throws down a vicious dunk on Patrick Ewing in the 1991 NBA Playoffs.
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Professional wrestling was changed in 1982 when Vincent Kennedy McMahon purchased the World Wrestling Federation from his father. By 1985, Wrestlemania happened and wrestling moved from the traditional territory system to a national audience. Throughout the years, McMahon grew the WWF (now WWE) to a massive, international powerhouse that just a year or two ago was sold to TKO Holdings. McMahon is worth billions and has set WWE apart from any potential competitor. This past year, Vince McMahon became embroiled in a sexual assault scandal that resulted in his ouster from the company he built. Paul "Triple H" Levesque took the helm and the WWE product has been the best it's been since probably 2008 or 2009. They're calling it the "Renaissance Era" for WWE and it wouldn't have happened if McMahon was still around. It would've been the same stale product that fans loathed and led to the upstar All Elite Wrestling (AEW) promotion that has captured maybe the best fan following since World Championship Wrestling's demise. In 1985, Jerry Reinsdorf purchased the Chicago Bulls for $16 million dollars. Today, Forbes estimates the Bulls to be worth $4.6 billion dollars. Jerry Reinsdorf has unquestionably been the figurehead of the growth of the Chicago Bulls to a worldwide brand powered by the popularity of Michael Jordan and more recently, Derrick Rose in the early 2010s. But the product on the court has been hindered by Reinsdorf's desire to prioritize profits over success. The Bulls are the third largest market in the NBA and have paid the luxury tax once in franchise history. One time! There have been decisions made by Bulls management that clearly prioritized money over continued success such as waiting until they didn't have to pay multiple coaches before terminating one that should have been terminated months prior, playing chicken with Ben Gordon which resulted in one of the baby Bulls' most important players leaving for nothing, being unwilling to commit to Jimmy Butler as a franchise player and trading him while he's led the Miami Heat to two Finals appearances since 2020, and continuously stashing draft picks overseas to avoid paying them up front or selling the picks outright for cash. Meanwhile, Arturas Karnisovas, the Bulls' Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations, hasn't made a meaningful trade since 2021 even though this core is completely stale and in need of an overhaul. Is that merely his decision or is it pressure from the owner's box? Reinsdorf often plays himself as someone who won't get in the way and trusts his people to make the right calls, but there are certain things carry over from regime to regime. If you were to go back to the 1998 NBA All-Star game in the 3rd quarter and listen to Bill Walton discuss the Bulls situation with then-coach Phil Jackson and hear the quotes and then compare them to Tom Thibodeau's firing in 2015, you would hear a lot of the same buzzwords. It's weird because the GM in 1998 was Jerry Krause and 2015 was Gar Forman and John Paxson in the front office. What was the connecting tissue? Jerry Reinsdorf. Fans begged for Gar/Pax to be fired and eventually he did (sort of. Pax is still an "advisor"), but only after being embarrassed on national TV during All-Star weekend. Now the Bulls face a similar situation. Fans are begging for change, nobody trusts Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley to do anything and the core of the "Mid 3" needs to be altered - possibly too late given LaVine's injuries, DeRozan's contract is up, and Vucevic just sucks. But will Reinsdorf do anything? And if he does, will it even matter? The Bulls will likely be stuck in the same position WWE was in. The owner that brought them to glory has gotten comfortable, is raking in money hand over fist, and until the fans stop supporting them financially or a scandal breaks out, he's not leaving. Until he decides to sell the franchise or even a part of the team, the Bulls will likely continue to go down the same path of mediocrity. Why would Reinsdorf be eager to make a change? The Bulls led the way again in attendance while fielding a 9 seed, 39 win team, and not going near the luxury tax. It's clear that Bulls Nation will support this team whether they're good or not, so why spend money and try to build a contender? He is making money hand over fist and maximizing the value of this team. It's a shrewd business move. The Bulls are stuck in basketball hell and until something changes with ownership, they're going to be there. I don't see Reinsdorf putting up a "for sale" sign any time soon. Until then, we can only hope and pray that Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley decide to take action and get lucky within the parameters of cheapness and maximizing profit over competitiveness. It's not been great for the Bulls lately. They've lost 7 of their last 10 and just got embarrassed by Minnesota mere days after getting embarrassed by Tom Thibodeau and the Knicks (twice in three days) and an even more embarrassing loss to the Hawks with a ridiculous buzzer beater by AJ Griffin with 0.5 left on the clock. They're 15th in points per game, 18th in opponent's points per game, 22nd in Offensive Rating, 16th in Defensive Rating, 30th in three-point attempts, but 11th in three-point percentage, and 24th in rebounding. They sit at 11th in the Eastern Conference and are four games behind 8th seed Atlanta Hawks. Things have gotten so bad that the infamous Zach LaVine apologists who relentlessly bashed me for my "Zach LaVine hate" are falling over themselves to suggest it's time to trade the "cornerstone of the Bulls rebuild" from 2018 and start over...again. If only it were that easy. Tearing this thing down would be easy. There's a ready-made DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic trade to the Lakers for Russell Westbrook and the 2027 and 2029 firsts just waiting for the Bulls to jump. Zach LaVine is still a talent and has value even though he has a bloated contract for his actual production and physically he doesn't seem to be at his peak (although he is getting better and finding his rhythm). There's a generational talent in Victor Wembanyana just waiting in the lottery for the lucky winner. But the Bulls continue to be their own worst enemies. When Arturas Karnisovas came to Chicago, he seemed determined to make a splash and land an All-Star. He did, Nikola Vucevic, but he gave up some serious assets to do so. The 2023 pick is only top-4 protected so if it's 5 or later, it goes to Orlando. Could the Bulls bottom out enough to increase their odds of landing a top-4 pick? I think they could, but they'd have to scrap everyone. Not helping their case is the curious extension they just gave Billy Donovan before the season. At the time it became public, Donovan was only 86-88. Just a very odd decision to extend a coach that was barely above .500. Donovan is at least competent and bottoming out with him at the helm will be tricky. The other issue is who wants/needs Zach LaVine? There are lots of teams that could use a player of his talent (San Antonio, Charlotte, New York, Denver, Lakers, and Dallas all come to mind), but realistically, what can they give back that Chicago would want? Would the Bulls want Jacob Poetl, Doug McDermott, and someone else? Or maybe Terry Rozier, PJ Washington, and one other piece? Maybe the Knicks offer of Evan Fournier and a sadly washing up Derrick Rose would be appealing? How about Bruce Brown and KCP? Not exactly exciting. Or maybe Dallas could throw out Spencer Dinwiddie and one of Tim Hardaway Jr., Davis Bertans, or Dorian Finney-Smith? I'm just not sure what the trade is, but I'm certain the Bulls will get pennies on the dollar for LaVine, but it feels like it's time to move on. Personally, I'd trade LaVine, DeRozan, Vucevic, Caruso, maybe Javonte Green, Andre Drummond, and Goran Dragic if there are takers and give Patrick Williams a chance to shine with the ball in his hands and see what we might have in Coby White. Maybe Ayo Dosunmu and Dalen Terry can develop into something. Maybe even bring Carlik Jones up to the main roster and see if he can be the floor general he was at Louisville and Radford before that. Maybe play Marko Simonovic some NBA minutes and see if he can contribute anything. It's time for the Bulls to look in the mirror and realize that this group isn't working and even if Lonzo Ball comes back, he's not going to fix all of the defensive woes, the shooting woes, and the struggles this team has. The choice seems clear: It's time to tear it down in Chicago. But that's a daunting task. We'll see if Arturas Karnisovas is up to such a task. I became a wrestling fan around 1995 and about that time the World Wrestling Federation began this megapush of a babyface Shawn Michaels. As a 10 year-old kid, I was 100% in. I idolized him and wanted to be like him - cocky, confident, and defiant. When Michaels retired in 2010, his final match was at Wrestlemania 26 in a rematch against The Undertaker. Undertaker gave him two tombstones and as he pulled him up to deliver a third, he urged Michaels to just give up and Michaels did this: One last act of defiance and arrogance to ride off into the sunset. It was a fitting way to end his legendary career. For years, I have been leading the charge that LaVine, while talented, is overrated. I've been saying that he's really good, but not great, and if LaVine is your best player then you're not going to succeed. In this final outing, I'm here to deliver a Shawn Michaels-esque slap to the face of Bulls Nation and say Zach LaVine is not the player you think he is. He's deceiving you. It's not intentional. LaVine seems like a quality guy and a guy that cares about the game. He's gotten more consistent every season he's played and is making strides. Years ago, I created a video describing this unwritten line for perimeter players. Basically, if a perimeter guy gets 20+ points, but less than 5 rebounds or 5 assists, he's in a tier just below the top-tier guys. LaVine has always approached that line, but has never been able to cross it. This was his best season yet and he averaged 27.4 points, 5 rebounds, but 4.9 assists. That 0.1 matters and it separates that Kobe's, the LeBron's, the Jordan's from the Vince Carter's, the Michael Redd's, and the Ray Allen's. It also matters that he's a one-time All-Star - that the rest of the league and the fans looked at the landscape of the league and decided he wasn't one of the 12 best players in the East (Chicago only as he wasn't good enough in Minnesota yet). It also matters that LaVine's teams have accumulated a putrid record of 181-366 (.331 winning percentage). It matters that his teams have never come close to having a .500 record at the end of the season or even at all. It matters that after seven seasons, LaVine has zero playoff appearances. It matters that he hasn't been able to elevate his teams to the next level. Isn't that what the greats do? Is all of this on him? No. The Timberwolves are notorious for their incompetence, but they did pair him with talented big man Karl Anthony-Towns and Tom Thibodeau, who basically brings wins with him wherever he goes. The Gar/Pax era is infamous for it's ups and downs, but they did bring in LaVine to be "the cornerstone of the Bulls rebuild" (KC Johnson's words, not mine) and put some maligned pieces around him that we'll have to wait some time to see what they actually are. You know how I feel about Markkanen in particular, but Carter Jr. got a lot of praise after the trade to Orlando for basically matching his exact production with Chicago per 36 minutes. To say LaVine was without help is somewhat misleading, but it's also rare for great players to be in such abominable situations and not drag the team to some semblance of relevancy. At some point, it's just fair to wonder if maximizing LaVine is to the detriment of the entire team. Watching the Bulls this year, you could see beautiful ball movement one possession and then this thought pops into their head like, "Oh, we have to let Zach have this possession" and the ball goes to him and stops while he isolates. It never seems like he's playing within the flow of the offense and it becomes predictable down the stretch. But shhh.....don't tell Bulls Nation. They're still under the misguided notion that Zach LaVine is going to lead us to the promised land. LaVine is heading into year 8 and will be 27 next season. I touched on this while debating LeBron/Jordan back in 2012 and the trend continues today, but guys that came out of high school or were one-and-done seem to have similar breaking points around 28-30 years old. Look at Jermaine O'Neal, Tracy McGrady, KG, and even Kobe (remember him going to Germany?) or recently, John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, and KD. It's always the knee or the back. We literally may have seen the best we're going to see of Zach LaVine and if this was his best, it just wasn't good enough. I know he's a hard worker and I remember ESPN Podunk, Minnesota tweeting at me and telling me how much I'd love the effort he puts in. That's great and that's what I like to see from any player, but just because a guy works his tail off doesn't mean he has a limitless ceiling. Remember when Tony Snell was drafted and people talked about how hard he worked? A lot of people just assumed he was another diamond in the rough drafted by Gar/Pax and he would evolve into an All-Star like Jimmy Butler. Well, Snell worked hard and has been a career rotation player. That's it, that's his ceiling. LaVine is a hard worker, but this may just be all that he is and that's okay. But to me, it's definitive that LaVine is not that in that upper echelon of NBA players with Curry, LeBron, Harden, KD, or Kawhi. He's in that middle tier of guys you want on your team, but you can't build around them or you won't be very good. The Bulls have a decision to make with LaVine. He's due for an extension and in the final year of his contract. Are the Bulls going to shell out that kind of money for a guy with a 181-366 record lifetime or will they parlay him into the potential for a successful future with future draft assets or for a star that might need a change of scenery (like Ben Simmons)? I have no idea what Arturas is thinking, but his first year on the job has shown us that he's not afraid to make drastic changes. Nothing could be more drastic than trading Bulls Nation's golden boy. Time will tell what will happen and as years go by, we'll ultimately see where Zach LaVine settles into the history books. Just remember who was here to shatter this illusion of LaVine leading the Bulls to prominence with a Shawn Michaels slap to the face.
I remember draft night back in 2017. I was sitting at a friend's house watching the draft with a few people, following the rumor mill on Twitter, and having a good time. Then the tweet came across from Woj or Shams: The Bulls were trading Jimmy Butler to Minnesota for Zach LaVine (ugh), Kris Dunn (UGH), and the #7 pick (hmmm.....). That was it for Jimmy Butler? I had never believed in Zach LaVine, Kris Dunn had shown absolutely nothing in his rookie year, but the 7th pick was enticing.
If you follow me back to 2017, still on the table were Frank Ntilikina - who was highly regarded in this draft, Bam Adebayo - who I was not high on after watching him at UK for a full year up close, Malik Monk - who I WAS high on after watching him at UK for a full year up close, Dennis Smith Jr, TJ Leaf was another regarded project, Donovan Mitchell was projected right where he was drafted (and being a Louisville fan, that's right where I would've had him too), but there was another talented prospect out there by the name of Lauri Markkanen. I was really into Lonzo Ball back in 2017 and I happened to catch UCLA vs Arizona in the Pac-12 tournament, I think, while watching Ball. But this 7 footer kept catching my eye and I was like, "Man...I'd love to have this guy on the Bulls." I don't watch a lot of Pac-12 basketball, so I started Googling Markkanen and became impressed with what I saw. Then the Bulls took him at #7 in 2017. It immediately made me feel better about the Jimmy Butler trade because I knew we were getting a talented big man back. We've seen three years of Lauri Markkanen's career to this point. It's been rough for him. He's played 68, 52, and 50 games in his three years. He's had two idiotic coaches in Fred Hoiberg and the incompetent Jim Boylen. Arguably, he doesn't fit well next to the team's best player - a ball dominant shooting guard, who doesn't really create for others. Last year, he was required to do something he's not qualified to do: Stand at the three-point line like Kyle Korver and launch threes at a high clip. That's never been his game. Many compared him to Dirk Nowitzki when he came out of college because he's tall, white, and foreign I suppose, but I always saw him as the evolution of Tom Chambers. Chambers was 6'10, athletic, and could play around the perimeter (more mid-range than threes back in the 80s and 90s). Chambers could put the ball on the floor and attack the rim. That's more Markkanen's game. Can he hit threes? Absolutely. But he can also dunk on you and take you off the dribble. That part of his game was eliminated by the "genius" of former coach Jim Boylen. Under Boylen, Markkanen's usage rate dropped to 21.1%, lower than his rookie season (21.9%). He lost 4 field goal attempts per game from the previous season (11.8 down from 15.3). Over half of his field goal attempts were from three compared to about a third being from three the previous season. His rebounding numbers dropped by 3, his minutes were reduced 3 minutes per game, and his scoring dropped 4 points per game. In 2018-2019, he averaged 66.2 touches per game. Last season? 45.3. Jim Boylen obviously didn't value what Lauri Markkanen could bring to the table. But that will change this season. Back in September, Cody Westerlund tweeted that Markkanen's first conversation with new coach Billy Donovan included him asking Lauri where he wanted the ball on the court:
Here's what Billy Donovan had to say yesterday at Bulls Media Day (from NBC Chicago):
“I’ve had some conversations with Lauri,” Donovan told reporters. “I do think with a young player as gifted offensively as Lauri is, it does take time for the league to kind of catch up to a player. I think as people have seen him, and certainly he’s had to battle some injuries, he like Wendell (Carter Jr.) has to find his identity offensively. “Everybody knows he can put the ball on the floor and he can shoot it. But can we try to create some situations for him where he becomes a little more difficult to guard. I think it’s two-fold. I think one, it’s him understanding how to attack size mismatches. The other part of it is the team having recognition in transition of when he’s open to find him because when you close to him, he has enough skill to go by you. “And then I think the other part for him is him getting into the teeth of the defense when he does drive it, have the physicality to finish at the basket, get fouled, get to the free throw line. I think Lauri has really worked hard this offseason. I think he’s going to continue to evolve and get better. What I do not want him to be from watching film is what I would say a one-dimensional, catch-and-shoot forward. I think those guys become too easy to guard.” Clearly, Billy Donovan knows what he has in Lauri Markkanen and he plans to utilize him to his potential in this revamped Bulls offense. But this is the year for Lauri Markkanen. It's year 4, there's no more excuses, no more roadblocks. If he has it, this is the year he has to show it. All I know is that from my condo here on Lauri Island, the weather is looking perfect, not a cloud in sight. Lauri Markkanen is about to show out for the Chicago Bulls this season.
The tweet above was from media day leading into the 2017-2018 Chicago Bulls season. Gar/Pax routinely spoke about building a culture in Chicago, but what kind of culture were they trying to build? The Bulls traded Jimmy Butler, their then 3-time All-Star, to Minnesota for the potential of Zach LaVine - regarded as a volume scorer and great athlete - Kris Dunn, and the 7th pick which became Lauri Markkanen. This happened June 22nd, 2017. I remember sitting with friends watching the draft and finding out about it on Twitter before it was announced. I went silent. Not only did I coin the hashtag "BUTLERMANIA" during Butler's early days of ascension, not only did I spend years arguing with guys on Twitter about Butler's ceiling and how the Bulls had a player similar to Paul George, not only did I fully believe the Bulls went overboard getting Rondo and Wade to complement Butler and it was never going to work, but I believed that the Bulls could build a franchise around Jimmy Butler. We had seen performances like him dropping 52 points against Charlotte or his 53 points against Philadelphia. We saw the game winner in the preseason against Atlanta when Stacey King officially coronated him Jimmy G. Buckets. We saw him dunk on Chris Bosh when the Bulls ended Miami's legendary 27 game winning streak.
The signs were there, but John Paxson infamously said that "no one in untradeable except Michael Jordan." Zach Lowe in 2017 felt the Bulls were uncomfortable with Jimmy Butler as a foundational player. They essentially chose Fred Hoiberg over Jimmy Butler. It was abundantly clear early on that Fred Hoiberg wasn't the coach of the future and was definitely not the offensive genius they hailed him to be when they hired him. The NBA is a players league and the Bulls essentially chose the doomed Hoiberg over Jimmy Butler and went with a rebuilding project instead. The 2016-2017 Minnesota Timberwolves went 31-51, were 10th in offensive rating and 27th in defensive rating. Butler arrives and the T-Wolves go 47-35, their defensive rating remained at 27th, but their offensive rating soared to 4th. The Timberwolves made the playoffs for the first time in 14 years. They lost in 5 to the Houston Rockets. The next season was steeped in controversy. He rejected a 4-year, $110 million contract extension from Minnesota and was allegedly "frustrated with the nonchalant attitude of his teammates." Butler shows up a week before the season and leads the third-stringers to a victory in a scrimmage over the starters and is yelling and swearing at them the entire time. It's all very Kobe-esque. The Timberwolves eventually trade him to Philadelphia, where he plays 55 games and averages 18 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and nearly 2 steals per game. The 76ers take the Raptors to seven games in the Eastern Conference Semifinals and are literally a bounce away from overtime to try and make the Eastern Conference Finals. Brett Brown didn't want to deal with Jimmy Butler anymore (reportedly) and so Philadelphia signs and trades him to Miami in the offseason. Which brings us to today: Last night, the Miami Heat eliminated the #1 seeded Milwaukee Bucks and have advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals. These playoffs, Butler is averaging 21.8 points, 5.6 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 2.1 steals, and shooting 47.7% from the field. He's been fantastic. The team Miami built around Butler is what Chicago could have done: Athletes that can shoot the ball, Butler and Bam are able to operate out of the post or through the pick and roll, and it makes them a difficult team to guard. This is kind of the pace and space team Gar/Pax envisioned, but I guess they couldn't envision it around Butler. Erik Spoelstra, who I've routinely crowned one of the best 5 coaches in the NBA, could and that's the difference between an organization like Miami and the Chicago Bulls. Miami never tore their roster completely down, but instead tweaked it and made shrewd moves (like trading for Jae Crowder and Andre Iguodala who have been valuable for them this postseason) and drafted very wisely to guys that fit what they wanted to do. They've also developed players and integrated Butler into the successful culture that really began when Shaq was traded here and paired with Dwyane Wade. Riley started the culture and shaped it for Spoelstra to step in seamlessly. Miami has had 3 championships and 5 Finals appearances in the past 14 years so the results speak for themselves. The Bulls? Well, since the Butler trade, they're on their third head coach after extinguishing Fred Hoiberg a little over a year and a half after they chose him over Jimmy Butler. They replaced him with an even more incompetent coach in Jim Boylen, who has also been fired (thankfully) and now, even Gar Forman has been terminated. Meanwhile, the Bulls are 71-158 (.310) since trading Jimmy Butler. The Timberwolves may not have benefited from trading for Jimmy Butler, but Butler himself has seen success leading Minnesota to the playoffs, being a bounce away from the Eastern Conference Finals, and now making the Eastern Conference Finals in Miami. The Bulls though? They're left with many questions: Do they have a franchise player? Who will be the next coach? Can Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley build an actual winning culture in Chicago? What players on the roster can contribute to a winning team? Miami doesn't have those questions. They took a chance on Jimmy Butler, built a team around him, and now are one round away from another Finals appearance. The Bulls had the same choice and they blew it. They didn't believe Butler was worth building around and now, they're stuck in basketball hell with no real direction. Things will inevitably get better for the Bulls under new management, but the real point is they never had to get to this point. We gave up on the Jimmy Butler-era when we could've built something like what we're seeing in Miami. We lost the Jimmy Butler trade. Sports fans are an odd bunch. When you've lived through an era, you tend to romanticize it as "the good ol' days." But Bulls fans are different. Bulls fans tend to lean towards the negative and to be fair, there haven't been many positives since the Jordan era ended. But the one bright spot in recent Chicago Bulls history is from 2010-2015 when Tom Thibodeau was at the helm of the Chicago Bulls. Yet, one of my favorite Bulls media personalities, "See Red" Fred Pfeiffer, recently declared Tom Thibodeau second on his seven most overrated Chicago Bulls of all-time. Fred, who is sometimes delusional in his Chicago Bulls optimism, has been on the attack for several years in regards to Thibs' time with the Bulls. Was Thibodeau really overrated? Did Thibs run his players into the ground? Was Thibs unwilling to shift into the modern era? Let's answer each question individually. Was Thibodeau Really Overrated?To me, this is an easy question to answer. Tom Thibodeau won nearly 65% of his games as Chicago Bulls coach per basketball-reference.com. His record was 255-139 and the Bulls were 23-28 in the Playoffs. This is notable because during Thibs' tenure, then-Bulls star Derrick Rose played 181 out of a possible 394 games and 34 of the Bulls' 51 playoff games. During Thibs' tenure, several individual Bulls saw success: Derrick Rose famously won MVP in the 2010-2011 season, but under Thibodeau Luol Deng, Jimmy Butler, Derrick Rose, and Joakim Noah all made their first All-Star appearances while Pau Gasol also made the All-Star team at age 34. Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah made their only appearance on the All-NBA First Team under Thibodeau while Pau Gasol made All-NBA Second Team for the last time under Thibs. Jimmy Butler (2x), Luol Deng, and Joakim Noah (3x) all made All-Defense Team under Thibs. And let's not forget, Joakim Noah finished 5th in MVP voting during the 2013-2014 season after refusing to let the Bulls tank. Are all these accolades a product of pure talent or Thibodeau's coaching? Obviously, a bit of both, but it's hard to discredit Thibodeau for helping develop these players into All-Star talent and bringing this group together as a perennial contender. One of the frequent criticisms of Tom Thibodeau was his seemingly archaic offensive system. During Thibs' tenure, the Bulls placed 11th, 5th, 23rd, 28th, and 11th in Offensive Rating. After Thibodeau's dismissal, Bulls management hailed incoming head coach Fred Hoiberg as the missing piece to a Bulls championship. The Bulls went 42-40 the next season, missing the playoffs, and had a putrid offensive rating of 23rd with essentially the same roster as the year before minus an injured Joakim Noah. It was reported at the time that the Bulls tried utilizing some of Thibs' offensive sets to help some of the veterans be more comfortable in the offense. In reality, the Bulls were a Tom Thibodeau away from appearing in the lottery, not a missing piece from a championship. Did Thibodeau Really Run Players Into The Ground?This is the most frequent criticism of Tom Thibodeau. If you weren't there for this era, you have to understand something first: "Load management" was not a thing in 2010. In fact, I don't really remember anyone wondering about how many minutes a guy played until Kobe Bryant infamously tore his achilles tendon after then coach Mike D'Antoni played him big stretches in the lock-out shortened 2011-2012 season. Even after that, the science on minutes and it's correlation to injuries was murky at best. Now, in 2020, it's considered standard practice to monitor stars' minutes. In the 2010-2011 season, the league leader in minutes per game was Monta Ellis at 40.3 mpg, then Rudy Gay at 39.9 mpg, LaMarcus Aldridge at 39.6, fourth was Luol Deng of the Chicago Bulls at 39.1 mpg, and fifth was Kevin Durant at 38.9 mpg. In 2011-2012, Deng was the league leader in minutes per game at 39.4, followed by Kevin Love at 39 mpg, Durant at 38.6 mpg, Kobe Bryant at 38.5 mpg, and Dwight Howard at 38.3. In 2012-2013, Deng led the league at 38.7 mpg, Kobe Bryant and Damian Lillard were tied at 38.6 mpg, then Kevin Durant and Nicolas Batum were tied for fourth at 38.5 mpg. In the 2013-2014 season, Carmelo Anthony and Jimmy Butler of the Bulls tied for first place at 38.7 mpg, Durant was third at 38.5 mpg, DeMar DeRozan was fourth at 38.2 mpg, and James Harden was fifth at 38 mpg. In Thibodeau's final season in 2014-2015, Butler led the league again at 38.7, Harden was second at 36.8, Kyrie Irving was third at 36.4, Andrew Wiggins was fourth at 36.2, and LeBron James was fifth at 36.1. I tell you all of that to say this: The biggest gap between one of Thibs' men (Butler in 2014-2015) and the next place is 1.9 mpg. Through an 82 game season, you're talking about 155.8 minutes or roughly 3 1/4 games. Was it really that brutal to average that many minutes per game? There are some egregious examples like Joakim Noah playing 48 minutes in game 82 against Charlotte in the 2013-2014 season with a bad knee. It was egregious because the game was literally meaningless and wouldn't improve or decrease their position in the playoffs so why burn out your star? Many people point to Jimmy Butler's 60 minute night against Orlando in triple overtime. Is that unreasonable to play one of your best players in three overtimes trying to win a game, especially when that player is only 24 years-old? Also, the Bulls finished with 48 wins that season, but #7 Charlotte won 43 games that year. One game in January might be the difference in making or missing the playoffs. Others point to Derrick Rose being in at the end of a blow-out in Philadelphia in the 2012 Playoffs and Rose tearing his ACL. Since then, I've seen Steve Kerr, Gregg Popovich, and Brad Stevens do similar things in playoff blowouts, but nobody questions them. The minutes argument simply isn't as ridiculous as you're being led to believe. The league began changing on largely unproven science to that point and some decided to be cautious while most didn't. Also, the Bulls generally played at a slower pace and Thibodeau frequently pointed out to the media that he had been around the league long enough to know how to pace a team. To me, the minutes per game are justified though some individual games should be pointed out as questionable. Was Thibs Unwilling To Shift Into The Modern Era?Many people point out that Tom Thibodeau was stuck in his ways and didn't want to play with pace and space. I think the reasoning behind Thibodeau's decision-making was proved in Hoiberg's first year as Bulls coach with the same core: The Bulls were 15th in PACE, but only 23rd in Offensive Rating. The year before with Thibodeau, they were 23rd in PACE, but 11th in Offensive Rating. In Thibs' final season, the Bulls actually averaged 22 threes per game and shot only 35%. In Hoiberg's first year, they only averaged 21 threes per game and shot 37.1%. In 2013, it was reported that Taj Gibson would be shooting more threes at the request of the coaching staff and then after Thibodeau's dismissal, Zach Lowe casually mentioned on a podcast that Thibs had told him that they wanted Taj Gibson to shoot corner threes, but he just never felt comfortable in games (we eventually saw Gibson shooting threes in Minnesota under Thibodeau). Thibodeau wasn't ignorant of where the league was going, but with the personnel that he had, they had to play a certain way to win. We saw evidence of this in Minnesota. In the 2016-2017 season, the Timberwolves were 25th in PACE, 10th in Offensive Rating, and shot 21 threes per game at 36.6%. In the 2017-2018 season, they were 24th in PACE, 4th in Offensive Rating, and shot 22.5 threes per game at 35.7%,. In his final season thru 40 games, they were 12th in PACE, 14th in Offensive Rating, and 28.5 threes per game at 35.6%. The Timberwolves and Thibodeau evolved, but what was always certain about Thibs is that he would play whatever way that would win them the most games. Both Chicago and Minnesota saw evidence of this. The Bulls made their only Eastern Conference Finals appearance since the Jordan era while Minnesota snapped a 13 year drought by making the Playoffs under Thibs. Thibodeau has the second highest winning percentage in Chicago Bulls franchise history (under Phil Jackson obviously) and the second highest winning percentage in Timberwolves franchise history (under Flip Saunders). Overrated isn't the word I would use to describe Tom Thibodeau. The word I'd use is successful. The image above feels like it's photoshopped, but it's not. It's reality, but it's bizarre. For years, we watched Derrick Rose and our beloved Bulls fight against LeBron James. Whether LeBron was with the Cavaliers or the Miami Heat, the goal remained the same for Rose's Bulls: Overcome LeBron James. He was the roadblock in the Eastern Conference and he was the rival. Both of LeBron's teams had history with Jordan's Bulls, but it always felt like this rivalry was LeBron vs. the Bulls. He always got the better of us. Now, Derrick Rose plays with LeBron James in Cleveland and it's difficult to process.
When the Bulls traded Derrick Rose last year, I wasn't exactly heartbroken. Some fans were and they proclaimed that he was their guy and they would keep supporting him. Forgive me, but I'd rather eat a roach infested cake out of a dumpster than cheer for the New York Knicks in any fashion (except for the movie "Eddie"). Rose was gone, the Rose-era was dead, and the Bulls were moving on. Then allegations started to surface suggesting Derrick Rose was a rapist and Bulls fans were blown away. Fortunately, a jury found the claims of the woman against Derrick Rose were not credible and the controversy was over, but Bulls fans were asking, "How could this humble kid born and raised in Chicago be this way?" For residents of Chicago, it was similar to the shock the world faced when the allegations against Bill Cosby began to surface. "Cliff Huxtable?! The ideal TV dad?! This can't be!" This was DERRICK ROSE. The guy everyone felt bad for because of the injuries, the guy the entire NBA fanbase cheered for because he was a special player. We thought we knew him. Personally, I became disgusted by him and refused to even so much as tweet about him at all. I didn't watch him play except for the few games he played against the Bulls and I ignored the Knicks completely. This guy was Chicago's hero and it wasn't supposed to be this way. It was supposed to lead to championship parades at Grant Park, the coveted #1 hanging up alongside Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, and more banners being hung in the United Center celebrating our 7th and 8th championships. It never happened. Rose's ACL exploded and NBA history changed forever. I wrote about it in detail here. This past summer, Derrick Rose entered free agency and it seems like no offers came his way. He eventually signed for the veteran's minimum, around $3 million, to play with LeBron James and the Cavaliers. It's bizarre to see him in those colors. That #1 that so many of us have in our closets, that we wore to so many Bulls games, that we loved seeing on the court is now in wine and gold playing alongside LeBron James. It wasn't supposed to be like this. But Rose's new jersey also came with a new Derrick Rose. Watching him on the court, you can tell that his personality has changed and possibly for the better. He doesn't look burdened down by the expectation that he is the franchise and that he has a giant contract so he needs to produce. He looks relaxed, his hair is different (and still taking some getting used to), and he looks like he's happy to be playing basketball again. I find myself reluctantly pulling for him to have a great season and not relinquish that starting role to Isaiah Thomas. You can see glimmers of the former MVP on the court. Last night against the Bulls, he drove to the rim, switched hands, and laid it in. It perfectly encapsulated everything that Derrick Rose was at his peak: Fast, amazing handles, and the ability to finish beautifully at the rim. It was vintage Derrick Rose. I've forgiven him for the ACL tear, even though it wasn't his fault. I've forgiven him for not returning late in the 2012-2013 season as fans were frantically checking Twitter day after day hoping to get a glimpse of our fallen MVP. I've forgiven him for not fully returning to MVP form - who could after that many injuries? I've forgiven him for not totally meshing with Jimmy Butler, even if that never really made sense. I've forgiven him for not bringing home a championship. None of these things were his fault, but for some reason I held it against him and pinned the blame on him. I've finally forgiven Derrick Rose and now I can enjoy watching him play basketball again. Michael Jordan had many defining moments in his NBA career, but few were as surreal as "the move." Jordan had several memorable highlights throughout his first six seasons in the NBA - some unbelievable dunks, 63 points against the Boston Celtics, and the shot on Craig Ehlo - but great players come up big in the Eastern Conference Finals or the NBA Finals. They had those memorable shots or plays that future generations look back on and think, "That was unbelievable." Magic Johnson cemented his legacy with the baby sky hook against the Celtics. Willis Reed became an icon by hobbling out of the tunnel to play in game 7 of the Finals. Larry Bird stole the ball and gave it up to Dennis Johnson for a layup against the Pistons. Julius Erving had the surreal up and under layup where he literally brought the ball behind the backboard and on the other side of the rim. In Michael Jordan's first NBA Finals, he placed himself in that pantheon with the rest of the NBA's legends and cemented his place as an all-time great. The 1991 Finals started off rough for the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls dropped game 1 after Sam Perkins hit a game winning three at Chicago Stadium. The Bulls had to rebound strong and they came prepared in game 2. The game was close for about two and a half quarters before the Bulls broke it open. The Bulls wanted and needed to finish strong and with 8 minutes left to go in the game, the score was 95-71. The Bulls were in control, but something about it still felt uneasy. These were Magic and the Lakers and the Bulls were still largely unproven. It felt like something needed to be done to assert their dominance over the Lakers and for Jordan and the Bulls to make a statement. Then it happened: I've seen the clip a hundred times and it's incredible each time, but when I watched the game for the first time, I didn't know when it happened and it sneaks up on you. Jordan does this move so fast and so effortlessly that it catches you off guard. The first time I watched it in the actual game, he did it and I just froze. My brain had to catch up and comprehend what I had just watched. Again, I'd seen this clip hundreds of times and still seeing it in live action was just incredible. Jordan takes off and I think he thought someone was coming over to try and alter the shot, but instead Perkins, James Worthy, and Vlade Divac just stand there in awe of what they're witnessing. No one comes to contest it and Jordan, preparing for the shot to be challenged, switches hands and lays it in with the other hand. Phil Jackson's reaction is wonderful, like he can't believe what he's seeing. Scott Williams raises both arms in the air as he backpedals down court and Cliff Levingston makes sure he runs over and celebrates with Jordan as the Lakers call timeout. The play made Chicago Stadium explode and asserted the Bulls' dominance over the Los Angeles Lakers. It was the first memorable Finals moment for Michael Jordan and a play that we see during every NBA Finals. It is iconic and a timeless classic. It was the moment that Michael Jordan and the Bulls became iconic and a team for the ages. You've seen this clip a million times: Nick Anderson stole the ball from a rusty Michael Jordan wearing #45. Nick Anderson told reporters after the game: "No. 45 doesn't explode like No. 23 used to. No. 45 is not No. 23. I couldn't have done that to No. 23." The very next game, Michael Jordan returned to his old number 23, but simply throwing on what seemed like a retro jersey wouldn't be enough for the Bulls. The Magic defeated them 4-2 and sent the Bulls into an offseason full of doubt. There was plenty of reason for doubt. In the 17 games he played in the 1994-1995 season, Jordan only averaged 26.9 points per game, 6.9 rebounds, 5.3 assists, and 1.8 steals while shooting a career worst 41.1% from the field. Yes, those numbers on the surface are fine for any other player, but this was Michael Jordan! The greatest player of all-time, the man who seemed unstoppable just a season and a half prior, but now he seemed human. Sure, we saw flashes of his brilliance: The Double Nickel at Madison Square Garden, rattling off 32 points at the Omni against Atlanta (18 in the 3rd quarter) and a buzzer beater. But we didn't see it consistently. He did pick it up in the Playoffs, averaging 31.5 points per game, 6.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 2.3 steals, 1.4 blocks, and shot 48.4% from the field, but he also averaged a career worst 4.1 turnovers per game in the postseason and his Playoff PER is the second lowest of his career other than his rookie season (24.8). Also, the Bulls lost for the first time in their dynasty. Were they too old? Could Jordan ever regain his magic? Local media was asking the same questions: "That is the challenge," he [Jordan] says. "It's a whole new beginning." I am afraid it is not. I am afraid that it is a story as old as time. Here is the truth. Jordan's hour has passed, as did Wilt's and Oscar's and Dr. J's, as did Bird's and Magic's. This is just the way it is. What was obvious between the Bulls and Orlando, between the Bulls and Charlotte for that matter, is the hunger and the wonder." "Oh, Jordan's skills are still considerable and he can have moments of rare spectacle, but not 82 games, not 164 games, not however many games Jordan has left as a Bull are enough to redo what was." "Pippen and Jordan are enough if they were only 25 again. But they are not. And there is not enough time and maybe neither enough commitment nor front office genius to figure this out before Jordan is gone again. This is what awaits him. Jordan is going to be the marquee attraction he always was. The United Center will fill and the Bulls will trot Jordan in and out of arenas around the league to be admired and to be remembered, kind of a living museum piece. But the league will belong to another generation, for worse or better. The next couple of years will be the farewell tour Jordan never had. Whether he will settle for that, only he knows. This was worth doing, this comeback of his, for now we know and so he does he what a brave thing it truly was. "Maybe expectations were too high," Jordan says. Impossible." - Bernie Lincicome. Chicago Tribune. May 21, 1995 Here's another Chicago Tribune article from Melissa Isaacson that mentions the possibility of trades and rebuilding. There was doubt that the Bulls could ever be those Bulls again, that Jordan's time had passed, and the new generation was about to assert its place in NBA lore. However, Michael Jordan wasn't ready to relinquish his throne just yet. The 1995-1996 season began with a bang from MJ. The Bulls started 5-0 and Jordan was reflective of his usual self averaging 32 points per game, 3.6 rebounds, 5 assists, 1.6 steals, 1.6 turnovers, and shooting a fiery 53.3% from the field, 45.5 from 3pt, and 85.7% from the free-throw line. No longer was Jordan's athletic ability his greatest weapon. Instead, his mind was and the results were evident: He picked spots more often of when and where he would attack the rim, he utilized his jumper more often, he was posting up more frequently and had become a master at it. He was mentally picking guys apart and destroying them on the court. Watch the video below and notice how much different this Michael Jordan looked than the one we are accustomed to before the 1995-1996 season: As Michael Jordan had done many times before, he had silenced his critics, he erased doubts of his and the Bulls demise, and began his path towards one of the most magnificent seasons in NBA history. |
AuthorBrandon Pence is the founder & author of "The Bulls Charge." Pence has been a Bulls fan since 1993 following the shot by John Paxson, believes Michael Jordan is undeniably the GOAT, and has Derrick Rose as his all-time favorite Bull following Scottie Pippen's weird feud with Michael Jordan. "The Bulls Charge" was established in 2011. Archives
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