f Ch Glory Days The city of Chicago Illinois has a love affair with basketball h h b k b ll that stretches back more than a century High school and college teams have always been popular in and around the Windy City Professional teams have called Chicago home since the 1920s However it was not until the Bulls came to town in 1966 that Chicago sports fans truly embraced a pro team ll h l ff The Bulls joined the NBA when it expanded from nine teams to ten As a new club Chicago had to find creative ways to build its roster The Bulls looked to players that other NBA teams no longer valued Among these cast-offs were a handful of stars including guards Guy Rodgers and Jerry Sloan and forward Bob Boozer 6
The Bulls were also awarded the last pick in each round of the NBA draft Despite its patchwork roster Chicago was able to hold its own during its first season The Bulls finished with more victories than any expansion club before or since During the 1970s the Bulls continued to improve Their best player was Bob Love a forward who could score rebound and play tough defense Love led the Bulls in points seven years in a row Chicago also had one of the NBA’s top one-on-one players in forward Chet Walker Point guard Norm Van Lier led the club from the backcourt Teammates and fans called him Stormin Norman because of his intense desire to win Chicago’s defense was helped by centers Tom Boerwinkle Clifford Ray and Nate Thurmond The Bulls made it to the finals of the Eastern Conference in 1973 74 and again the following season Later in the 1970s the Bulls added more stars including Artis Gilmore Mickey Johnson David Greenwood and Reggie Theus Two more impact players Quintin Dailey and Orlando Woolridge joined the team in the 1980s Unfortunately Chicago was unable LEFT Bob Boozer was an original member of the Bulls ABOVE This trading card features some of Chicago’s top players of the 1970s 7
to repeat its earlier success Things began to change in 1984 when the Bulls used the third pick in the NBA draft to select college star Michael Jordan There seemed to be no limit to Jordan’s talent He was named Rookie of the Year in 1984 85 and was the league’s top scorer seven years in a row starting in his third season Jordan was such an amazing player that his teammates often faded into the background This prevented the Bulls from reaching the NBA Finals during the 1980s More balanced team-oriented opponents always defeated them in the playoffs The Bulls finally became a great team during the 1990s when they found the right players to surround Jordan Scottie Pippen was a wonderful all-around forward who worked hard on offense and defense He led a group of talented supporting players including Bill Cartwright Horace Grant Luc Longley Toni Kukoc Dennis Rodman B J Armstrong John Paxson Steve Kerr and Ron Harper LEFT Michael Jordan was nicknamed Air for his amazing ability to hang above the rim ABOVE Scottie Pippen had the talent to match Jordan 9
