The
Chicago Bulls
The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on January ...
are a
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
(NBA) team based in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
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, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
,
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...
.
Dick Klein founded the Bulls in 1966 after a number of other professional basketball teams in Chicago had failed. In their 53 seasons, the Bulls have achieved a winning record 25 times, and have appeared in the
NBA playoffs 35 times.
They received international recognition in the 1990s when
All-Star shooting guard Michael Jordan led them to their six league championships. The only three NBA franchises that have won more championships than the Bulls are
the Boston Celtics and
the Los Angeles Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...
(17 Championships each), and
the Golden State Warriors with 7. The Bulls are the only NBA franchise as of 2022 to have a combination of multiple championships and zero losses in the NBA Finals (the San Antonio Spurs are the closest other franchise to this mark, but the 2013 Finals loss to Miami has given the Spurs an all-time Finals record of 5-1).
The Bulls initially competed in the NBA's Western Division. The Western Division was renamed the
Western Conference in 1970, and was split into the
Midwest and
Pacific
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...
Divisions. The Bulls played in the Midwest Division until 1980, when they moved to the
Central Division of the
Eastern Conference.
History of the Bulls
Early years
During their
inaugural season (1966–67), the Bulls compiled a 33–48 record under coach
Johnny "Red" Kerr
John Graham "Red" Kerr (July 17, 1932 – February 26, 2009) was an American basketball player, coach, and color commentator. He played in the NBA from 1954 to 1966, mainly as a member of the Syracuse Nationals. He later held several coaching ...
and reached the playoffs. This was the best record achieved by an NBA
expansion team in its first year of play, a feat which earned Kerr the
NBA Coach of the Year Award
The National Basketball Association's Coach of the Year is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given since the 1962–63 NBA season. The winner receives the Red Auerbach Trophy, which is named in honor of the head coach who le ...
.
Dick Motta
John Richard Motta (born September 3, 1931) is an American former basketball coach whose career in the National Basketball Association (NBA) spanned 25 years. Motta coached the Washington Bullets to the 1978 NBA Championship, and he won the 1971 ...
replaced Kerr in 1969, and under his leadership, the Bulls appeared in the playoffs every year from 1970 to 1975. The team reached the Western Conference Finals in
1974 and
1975
It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe.
Events
January
* January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...
, but lost to the
Milwaukee Bucks
The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...
and
Golden State Warriors, respectively. Key players during the Motta era included
Jerry Sloan
Gerald Eugene Sloan (March 28, 1942 – May 22, 2020) was an American professional basketball player and coach. He played 11 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) before beginning a 30-year coaching career, 23 of which were spent ...
,
Bob Love
Robert Earl "Butterbean" Love (born December 8, 1942) is an American former professional basketball player who spent the prime of his career with the National Basketball Association's Chicago Bulls. A versatile forward who could shoot with eith ...
,
Chet Walker
Chester Walker (born February 22, 1940) is an American former professional basketball player.
Born in Bethlehem, Mississippi, Walker played high school basketball for the Benton Harbor High School boys basketball team. He graduated from Bradley ...
,
Norm Van Lier
Norman Allen Van Lier III (April 1, 1947 – February 26, 2009) was an American professional basketball player and television broadcaster who spent the majority of his career with the Chicago Bulls.
Early life
Norman Van Lier was born in East L ...
, and
Tom Boerwinkle
Thomas F. Boerwinkle (August 23, 1945 – March 26, 2013) was an American National Basketball Association (NBA) center who spent his entire career with the Chicago Bulls.
Early life
Tom Boerwinkle was born in Independence, Ohio, one of three ch ...
.
Revered basketball writer
Bob Ryan
Robert P. Ryan (born February 21, 1946) is an American sportswriter, formerly with ''The Boston Globe'', and author. He has been described as "the quintessential American sportswriter" and a basketball guru, and is well known for his coverage of ...
wrote that Sloan and Van Lier comprised the "physically and mentally toughest NBA backcourt" he ever saw.
The Bulls qualified for the playoffs just twice between 1976 and 1984, a period in which the team used eight different head coaches, including former player Jerry Sloan. They had a chance to win the first pick of the
1979 NBA Draft, which would have allowed them to select future
Hall of Famer
A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...
Magic Johnson. However, they lost a coin flip to the Los Angeles Lakers, and went on to choose
David Greenwood
David Murphy-Kasim Greenwood (born May 27, 1957) is an American retired professional basketball player whose National Basketball Association (NBA) career spanned 12 years from 1979 to 1991. Greenwood made his NBA debut on October 13, 1979 and was ...
with the second pick. Although Greenwood averaged 12.6 points over six seasons with the Bulls, he never became an NBA All-Star. During this period the Bulls were perhaps best known for being led by former-ABA star
Artis Gilmore
Artis Gilmore (born September 21, 1949) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the American Basketball Association (ABA) and National Basketball Association (NBA). Gilmore was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basket ...
and
Reggie Theus
Reginald Wayne Theus (born October 13, 1957) is an American basketball coach and former player. He played 13 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), where he was a two-time NBA All-Star. He is currently the head men's basketball he ...
, both of whom were multiple time
All-Stars with the Bulls.
Jordan era
The Bulls' luck turned for the better after selecting Michael Jordan with the third overall pick in the
1984 NBA Draft.
Considered the greatest basketball player of all time by NBA.com,
Jordan averaged 28.2
points per game during his first season and received the 1985
NBA Rookie of the Year Award. From 1985 onwards, the Bulls reached the playoffs every season he was on the team's roster despite having had a losing record in each of his first three years. Jordan could not lead the Bulls past the first round of the playoffs by himself losing to the champion Celtics and in 1987 general manager
Jerry Krause
Jerome Richard Krause (April 6, 1939 – March 21, 2017) was an American sports scout and executive who was the general manager of the Chicago Bulls in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1985 to 2003.
His tenure with the Bull ...
acquired
Scottie Pippen
Scotty Maurice Pippen Sr. (born September 25, 1965), usually spelled Scottie Pippen, is an American former professional basketball player. He played 17 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), winning six NBA championships with the ...
and
Horace Grant
Horace Junior Grant Sr. (born July 4, 1965) is an American former professional basketball player who is a special advisor for Michael Reinsdorf, the president and chief operating officer of the Chicago Bulls. He attended and played college baske ...
at that summer's
draft
Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to:
Watercraft dimensions
* Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel
* Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail
* Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...
. In 1989, the Bulls played in their first
conference finals Conference Finals may refer to:
* NBA Conference Finals, National Basketball Association
* NHL Conference Finals
The National Hockey League (NHL) Conference Finals are the Eastern Conference and Western Conference championship series of the NHL. ...
series since 1975, losing to the
Detroit Pistons
The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at L ...
. Coach
Phil Jackson
Philip Douglas Jackson (born September 17, 1945) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and executive. A power forward, Jackson played 12 seasons in the NBA, winning NBA championships with the New York Knicks in 1970 and ...
, an assistant since 1987, succeeded Doug Collins as head coach after that season and in
1991
File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...
, the team won their first of three consecutive NBA championships by defeating Magic Johnson and the Lakers.
Then they won two more consecutive titles in 1992 and 1993 after which Michael Jordan retired.
Although the Bulls signed European standout
Toni Kukoč
Toni Kukoč, nicknamed ''“The Waiter”'' (; born September 18, 1968) is a Croatian-American former professional basketball player who serves as Special Advisor to Jerry Reinsdorf, the owner of the Chicago Bulls. After a highly successful perio ...
to help alleviate the loss, despite only two less wins from the year before, they could not extend their championship streak, falling short in hard fought 7 games battle to the
New York Knicks in the
1994 Eastern Conference Semifinals. The Bulls lost Horace Grant, who signed with the
Orlando Magic as a
free agent
In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...
during the summer of 1994.
However, Jordan returned to the Bulls in March 1995 and lost in 1995 NBA Playoff despite posting one of his best numbers and close to his playoff average and with the added help of rebounding specialist
Dennis Rodman
Dennis Keith Rodman (born May 13, 1961) is an American former professional basketball player. Known for his fierce defensive and rebounding abilities, his biography on the official NBA website states that he is "arguably the best reboundin ...
, the team won three more championships from 1996 to 1998.
The Bulls won a then-record
72 regular season games (out of 82) and are widely regarded as
one of the greatest teams in NBA history.
Post-Jordan era
After the Bulls won their sixth championship, Phil Jackson was not re-signed and spent some time away from basketball. Michael Jordan then announced his second retirement, because general manager Jerry Krause wanted to begin rebuilding the roster with younger athletes. Six players from the 1997–98 Bulls (Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman,
Steve Kerr,
Luc Longley
Lucien James Longley (born 19 January 1969) is an Australian professional basketball coach and former player. He was the first Australian to play in the National Basketball Association (NBA), where he played for four teams over 10 seasons. Long ...
,
Jud Buechler
Jud may refer to:
People People with the surname
* Leo Jud (1482–1542), Swiss reformer
* Jakob Jud (1882–1952), Swiss linguist People with the nickname or given name
* Jud Birchall (1855–1887), American baseball player
*Jud Birza (born 1989 ...
,
and
Scott Burrell
Scott David Burrell (born January 12, 1971) is an American basketball coach and former player who is currently the men's basketball head coach at Southern Connecticut State University. He has played internationally and was also a professional bas ...
) joined other teams through free agency or
sign-and-trade
In the National Basketball Association (NBA), a sign-and-trade deal is a type of transaction allowed by the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) where one franchise/team signs an unrestricted free agent or restricted free agent player to a new c ...
deals, and with few established players left on the roster, the Bulls missed the
1999 playoffs. This began a six-year playoff drought, the longest such drought in team history.
The Bulls showed signs of improvement after hiring coach
Scott Skiles
Scott Allen Skiles Sr. (born March 5, 1964) is an American former basketball coach and player. He coached the Phoenix Suns, Chicago Bulls, Milwaukee Bucks and Orlando Magic. A first-round draft pick out of Michigan State University, Skiles played ...
in 2003, reaching the playoffs in
2005,
2006, and
2007. Some of the primary contributors on those teams were
Ben Gordon
Benjamin Ashenafi Gordon (born April 4, 1983) is an American former professional basketball player. Gordon played for 11 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), and he played college basketball for the University of Connecticut, ...
,
Luol Deng
Luol Ajou Deng (born 16 April 1985) is a British former professional basketball player. He was a two-time NBA All-Star and was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team in 2012. Born in what is now South Sudan, Deng fled the country with his ...
, and
Kirk Hinrich
Kirk James Hinrich ( born January 2, 1981) is an American former professional basketball player. He has also been a member of the USA National Team.
Growing up in Sioux City, Iowa, Hinrich was exposed to basketball at an early age. His father, ...
.
The Bulls' new playoff streak ended in 2008, when the team finished fourth in their division with a 33–49 record. After the season, the team hired a new coach,
Vinny Del Negro
Vincent Joseph Del Negro (born August 9, 1966) is an American former professional basketball player. He was the head coach of the National Basketball Association's Chicago Bulls from 2008 to 2010, and the Los Angeles Clippers from 2010 to 2013. ...
. The Bulls' poor record did help them win the 2008
NBA Draft Lottery, which allowed them to select
Derrick Rose with the
first pick in the
NBA Draft. They made the
2009 NBA playoffs
The 2009 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 2008–09 season. The tournament concluded with the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers defeating the Eastern Conference champion Orland ...
, only to lose in a seven-game series against the
Boston Celtics which included a record seven
overtime
Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. The term is also used for the pay received for this time. Normal hours may be determined in several ways:
*by custom (what is considered healthy or reasonable by society) ...
periods. In 2010, Del Negro was replaced by
Tom Thibodeau
Thomas Joseph Thibodeau Jr. ( ; born January 17, 1958) is an American basketball coach who is the head coach for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He served as an assistant coach for the United States men's national ...
, and the Bulls reached the 2011 Eastern Conference Finals, losing to the
Miami Heat
The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The club plays its home games at FT ...
in five games.
Table key
Seasons
''Note: Statistics are correct as of the .''
All-time records
''Note: Statistics are correct as of the .''
Notes
Sources
*
*
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chicago Bulls seasons
Seasons
A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and po ...
Events in Chicago