The failure of the bulls to find the new Michael Jordan
The Chicago Bulls continue with six championships that held at the time Michael Jordan left the team in 1998. In more than a quarter of a century, several players have tried to continue their legacy, without success.
A few days after Michael Jordan has scored his last basket as a member of the Chicago Bullsan epic shot on Byron Russell And the Utah Jazz who secured the sixth title in eight years for the franchise, the legendary basketball player was back in Chicago. It was June 1998, and Jordan, along with Scottie Pippen, Phil Jackson and Dennis Rodmanthey had completed what would be known for posterity as “The Last Dance” – The last dance.
It was a bittersweet moment, since both the players and the coach knew that this was the end of the road. There were almost a million fans, watered by all the Grant Park, which at that time simultaneously celebrated and regretted the end of a great dynasty.
But in the subsequent months, the fears of that great group were confirmed. Little by little, Jackson, Pippen, Rodman – and Jordan came out. Jerry Krausethe beloved and hated architect of that team, had said strongly: “Players and coaches do not win championships, organizations win championships.” As of 1999, Krause would try to check his edict.
More than 25 years later, we can say with confidence that that saying has been widely discredited, at least in the case of the bulls. The city of Chicago has not met again in Grant Park, or at any other point, to celebrate a Bulls championship after the last dance, despite having a variety of stars in that period, none of which has been able to return to the franchise to its place among the champions.
These are the names and stories of the failed heirs of Michael Jordan:
Eddy Curry & Tyson Chandler
Still with Krause in command of the team, Chicago had the opportunity to take two players in the first round of the 2001 draft, since Curry was selected with the fourth selection, and Chandler, who had been the second global, chosen by the clippers, He was exchanged to Chicago by Elton Brand.
The “Baby Bulls” Krause sought to dominate the teams physically, with two players more than seven feet high occupying the space under the hoop. But Curry was a source of frustration for his coaches, such as Scott Skiles, who was questioned that Curry needed to have more rebounds. Skiles answered coldly: “You need to jump.” With the duo, Chicago never achieved the success that the San Antonio had with Tim Duncan and David Robinson. Curry was exchanged to the New York Knicks in 2005, while Chandler was sent to the then New Orleans Hornets a year later.
Jay Williams
In 2002, Krause chose Jay Williams with the second global draft selection to serve as a complement to Curry and Chandler. A star base with Duke, Williams had received the Best NCAA player award just a few weeks before reaching the NBA, and his number 22 was retired by the university after a brilliant career in which he was national champion in 2001.
The plan was simple: Williams would be the one who would handle the ball on offense, and find his fellow Curry and Chandler below the ring for simple baskets. His performance was good enough to be chosen to the second team of the best NBA rookies after his first season with the Bulls – and the future promised even better things. But after a motorcycle accident in 2003 that almost removed the use of his left leg, his career ended prematurely. Krause resigned a short time later.
Derrick Rose
Born in Chicago during the Jordan era with the Bulls, Derrick Rose arrived at the team as the first global team of the Draft in 2008, after taking the University of Memphis to his second final of NCAA Final Four in history. In the NBA, Rose dazzled immediately, winning the rookie award of the year in 2009 and then the MVP in 2011, after his third campaign. In that season, the team reached the final conference against the Miami Heat of LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade.
But Rose never achieved the potential that those first seasons promised. In 2012, the anterior cross ligament of his left knee was broken, and after that, he participated in just 127 games through four more seasons before being exchanged to the New York Knicks in 2016. With Rose on the squad, the Bulls They never reached the conference final after 2011.
While Rose reached her peak with the bulls in that season of 2010-11, a young newby named Jimmy Butler was looking for her place inside the rotation. Unlike his partner, Butler spent four years in collegial basketball, after not even be recruited after high school. In 2015, after three seasons in the League, Butler received the NBA most improved player award, which gave him the possibility of signing a $ 95 million contract and erecting himself as the new team’s new star.
The notorious increase of Butler, a player who to date is defined as a fierce defensive element, as well as a powerful scorer, gave Chicag The franchise. But Chicago never advanced beyond the second round of the playoffs with Butler as the main player. In 2017, the Bulls were defeated by the Boston Celtics in the first round, and the team again looked for another direction.
On June 22, 2017, Butler was exchanged to the Minnesota Timberwolves, by Kris Dunn, Lauri Markkanen and Lavine, a talented escort better known at that time for being champion of NBA’s dive competition twice. Lavine arrived in Chicago being criticized for being an element similar to Rose: highly talented, but prone to injuries.
But the comparison to Rose turned out to be notorious for other reasons, since the explosiveness in his offensive talent allowed him to take a step forward and take the reins of the team, together with Demar Derozan, who became his great partner under the command of Billy Donovan in the initial part of this decade. In 2022, Lavine received her first call to the NBA stars game, and the team arrived at the playoffs for the first time since 2017 with Butler. But the team never managed to compete with teams like Miami, Boston and Milwaukee – so Chicago seeks another course. Lavine was sent to Sacramento in February, ending her eight years with the club.
Today the Bulls do not have a great star in their roster or a player who promises to change the course of the franchise. They have no one similar to Michael Jordan.
