Chicago Bulls: The highs and lows of the last 20 years

Looking back at the highs and lows of the last 20 years for the Chicago Bulls, and how Zach LaVine could be the next hope

The Chicago Bulls were arguably the best sports team in the 1990’s. Led by NBA Hall of Famers Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, the Bulls were able to win six NBA championships in eight years. The two years the Bulls did not win, it was only because Jordan decided to retire from the NBA and give baseball his best shot.

I mean, look at the numbers, the 1995-96 Bulls team went 72-10 and won the NBA championship. The previous year, the Bulls went 69-13 and won the NBA championship. The 1991-92 Bulls team went 67-15 and won the NBA championship.

The Bulls were the team that today’s star players grew up watching and imitating. LeBron James wears the No. 23 jersey because he was a big fan of Michael Jordan. Even NFL players like the former Chicago Bears kick returner Devin Hester wore the No. 23 jersey in honor of Michael Jordan. I am not going to talk about Air Jordan shoes because that would take all day, but you can go on YouTube and search Jordan collection to see the shoe influence.

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Now that it has been almost 20 years since the Bulls won their final NBA championship; all I can think about is the missed opportunities. LeBron James idolized Michael Jordan and grew up a short drive from Chicago, but LeBron chose not to play for the Bulls.

What about Kevin Durant? Well he wanted an easy ride to a ring, but the Bulls failed to make a trade for Kawhi Leonard, Blake Griffin and Chris Paul. I am still trying to figure out why the Bulls did not try harder to trade for James Harden.

The Bulls’ future at one point looked bright when they drafted hometown star Derrick Rose with the No. 1 pick in the 2008 NBA Draft. Followed by drafting Jimmy Butler with the 30th pick in the 2011 NBA Draft.

The 2010-11 Bulls, led by Rose, enjoyed success of going 62-20 before losing to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals. That season, at the age of 22, Rose became the youngest player to win the NBA MVP award. Coach Tom Thibodeau won the NBA Coach of the Year award too. Even Bulls GM Gar Forman shared the NBA Executive of the Year award with Pat Riley of the Heat.

After the run to the Eastern Conference Finals, the Bulls organization and its fans thought they had the next Michael Jordan, but in a smaller frame. Rose had the game of a future first ballot hall of famer. He averaged 25 points a game in the regular season and 27 points a game in the playoffs.

The next season, the Bulls again won the Central division finishing 50-16 in a shortened season, but they lost in the first round of the playoffs to Philadelphia 76ers after the reigning MVP Rose tore his ACL with 1:22 remaining in the Bulls’ Game 1 victory.

The ACL injury suffered by Rose was the beginning of a pile of injuries and surgeries for him. The next season without Rose, the Bulls finished with a second round loss to the Heat and a 45-37 record. Rose would only play in 10 games the following season.

A couple of seasons later, Jimmy Butler would become an all-star player, but the Bulls still could not make it pass the second round of the playoffs. It became obvious to the Bulls that injury-prone Rose had to go to give Butler free-rein as the franchise player. So on June 22, 2016, the Bulls finally had enough and traded Rose to the New York Knicks.

Butler put up good numbers for the Bulls, but a big head and ego would lead the Bulls to trade him to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Zach LaVine, Kris Dunn and a pick which turned into Lauri Markkanen.

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Now, 20 years later, the 3-8 Chicago Bulls are trying to rebuild. Hopefully, Zach LaVine who is averaging a career high 27.9 points per game can be the franchise player the Bulls thought they had in Rose and Butler.

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