The

2003–04 NBA season The 2003–04 NBA season was the 58th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Detroit Pistons defeating the Los Angeles Lakers 4–1 in the 2004 NBA Finals. Events This was the last season for the original two-div ...

was the Bulls' 38th season in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, 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 i ...

. During the offseason, the Bulls re-signed free agent and former Superstar forward Scottie Pippen. However, they continued to struggle finishing last place in the Central Division with a 23–59 record, missing the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eit ...

for the sixth straight season. Following the season, Pippen retired and

Jamal Crawford Aaron Jamal Crawford (born March 20, 1980) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 2000 to 2020. He is regarded as one of the best ball handlers in NBA history,. He was nam ...

was traded to the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...

. (See '' 2003–04 Chicago Bulls season#Regular season'')

Offseason

* July 20, 2003: Signed F Scottie Pippen * August 20, 2003: Signed G

Kendall Gill Kendall Cedric Gill (born May 25, 1968) is an American former professional basketball player who now works as a television basketball analyst. Early life Gill was born in Chicago and attended Rich Central High School in Olympia Fields, Illino ...

* September 4, 2003: Bought out contract of C Dalibor Bagaric * October 23, 2003: Waived G

Trenton Hassell Trenton Lavar Hassell (born March 4, 1979) is an American former professional basketball forward. A , guard-forward, Hassell was selected by the Chicago Bulls with the 30th overall pick of the 2001 NBA draft. Early life and college career Hasse ...

NBA Draft

Roster

Roster Notes

* Point guard Jay Williams missed the entire season due to a dislocated left knee from a motorcycle accident.

Regular season

Heading in to the

season 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 ...

, Bulls fans were as optimistic as they had been in years. Before it was done, however, winds of change had blown through the Windy City leaving a roster and a coaching staff upside down. After closing out the previous season with four solid wins in the final six games to reach the 30–victory plateau, the team was hopeful of reaching the playoffs for the first time since 1998 and new pieces were added to the team’s puzzle for that to happen. First,

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, ...

was taken with the seventh overall pick in the

2003 NBA Draft The 2003 NBA draft was held on June 26, 2003, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. The NBA announced that 41 college and high school players and a record 31 international players had filed as early-entry candidates ...

to fill the void at the guard spot. This happened just days after the team learned it would be without services of Jay Williams, who was injured in a motorcycle accident in June and would miss this entire season. Later in the summer, the Bulls brought back one of the sport’s all-time legends when free agent Scottie Pippen—a seven-time NBA All-Star, two-time Olympic gold medalist and one of the 50 greatest players in NBA history—returned to Chicago on 07/20/03. “I think I know how to win games in the NBA. It may sound simple, but both winning and losing can become a mindset, and I won’t accept losing—ever. Whether it’s on the floor, in the huddle, at practice or just demonstrating a winning leadership, I plan on helping this team win,” said Pippen. Just one month into the season, however, it became clear that expectations were not being met and changes were necessary. With a 4–10 record, the team relieved

Bill Cartwright James William Cartwright (born July 30, 1957) is an American former professional basketball player and a former head coach of the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A 7'1" (2.16 m) center, he played 16 seasons for the N ...

of his head coaching duties (11/24/03). A few days later,

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 ...

was named head coach (11/28/03) as he set out to instill a tough, defensive-minded, and high-effort mentality upon his new team. The Bulls makeover wasn’t done yet. A blockbuster of a deal went down on 12/01/03, when Chicago traded

Lonny Baxter Lonny () is a commune in the Ardennes department in northern France. Population See also *Communes of the Ardennes department The following is a list of the 449 communes of the Ardennes department of France. The communes cooperate ...

Donyell Marshall Donyell Lamar Marshall (born May 18, 1973) is an American basketball coach and former professional player. He's currently an assistant coach for the Greensboro Swarm of the NBA G League. During his National Basketball Association (NBA) career, ...

and

Jalen Rose Jalen Anthony Rose (born January 30, 1973) is an American sports analyst and former professional basketball player. In college, he was a member of the University of Michigan Wolverines' " Fab Five" (along with Chris Webber, Juwan Howard, Jimmy ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

for

Antonio Davis Antonio Lee Davis (born October 31, 1968) is an American former professional basketball player who played for the Indiana Pacers, Toronto Raptors, Chicago Bulls, and New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He also playe ...

Chris Jefferies Christopher Allen Jefferies (born February 13, 1980) is an American former professional basketball player. He played for the Toronto Raptors and the Chicago Bulls in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was named First Team All- West ...

and Jerome Williams. “This trade helps us address a couple of different areas, areas that we needed to get stronger in. It not only provides us with size, but also with energy,” said

John Paxson John MacBeth Paxson (born September 29, 1960) is an American basketball administrator and former player who was vice president of basketball operations for the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 2009 to 2020. He was th ...

. While the Bulls continued to struggle, improvements in effort under Coach Skiles were evident, and the roster re-make had only begun. The team’s 23–59 record qualified it for a sixth consecutive NBA Draft Lottery appearance. Other Notes: Hired Assistant Coaches Johnny Bach (07/15/03) and Ron Adams (07/16/03) … snapped a 26-game road losing streak versus Western Conference teams with a 95–79 win at Utah (02/04/04) … Hinrich dished out 506 assists and his average of 6.7 apg ranked tied for 7th in the NBA, despite the Bulls ranking last in the league in team field goal percentage (.414) … Hinrich was the only rookie in the NBA to tally a triple–double when he registered 11 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists against the visiting Golden State Warriors (02/28/04) …

went for a career–high 50 points (18–34 FG, 8–11 FT) at Toronto (04/11). Honors: Kirk Hinrich (freshman team) participated in the Schick Rookie Challenge at All-Star Weekend … Hinrich also was named to the got milk? NBA All-Rookie First Team … the Bulls drew an average of 19,736 fans through 41 home games (third in the NBA), including 11 sellouts … the Bulls also hosted the seven largest crowds in the NBA, including a season-high draw of 23,067 versus the L.A. Lakers at the United Center.

Standings

Record vs. opponents

Player statistics

Season

Awards and records

NBA All-Rookie Team The NBA All-Rookie Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor given since the 1962–63 NBA season to the top rookies during the regular season. Voting is conducted by the NBA head coaches who are not allowed to vote for player ...

1st Team

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2003-04 Chicago Bulls Season Chicago Bulls seasons

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...