In the last five seasons alone, the Chicago Bulls have been eliminated by a LeBron James-led team in the postseason three times. The playoffs haven’t started yet, but James can do the same thing on Saturday night in Chicago.
When Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls of the late 1980’s couldn’t advance to the NBA Finals, it was the “Bad Boy” Detroit Pistons that stood in their way for three consecutive seasons.
In the last five seasons for the modern-day Bulls, they’ve had their own demon standing between them and their first NBA Finals appearance since the 1997-98 season.
Since the 2010-11 season — the famous Derrick Rose MVP season — the Bulls have been eliminated from the playoffs by a team led by LeBron James. Hell, you can go back even before James joined “The HEATles” prior to the 2010-11 season and see how much of a nuisance James has been for the city of Chicago.
In James’ final season (2009-10) with the Cleveland Cavaliers before returning last season, he and the Cavs eliminated the Bulls in the Eastern Conference’s 1-8 series in five games.
And on Saturday night, James will *technically get the honor of eliminating the Bulls from the postseason for the second season in a row.
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For the Bulls to actually make the postseason, they would have to defeat Cleveland on Saturday, then win their final two games against New Orleans and Philadelphia, plus the Indiana Pacers losing each of their remaining three games (Brooklyn, New York and Milwaukee).
Sounds unlikely, right? It should.
The Bulls’ playoff hopes have seemingly been on life support for about a month and they’ve lost seven of their last 10 games heading into yet another meeting with James.
Despite the poor season, the Bulls have actually won two of the three meetings against the top-seeded Cavaliers, but none are bigger than Saturday’s showdown.
To make matters worse for the Bulls’ chances, James sat out Cleveland’s last game this week — a blowout loss to Indiana — and will have plenty of rest and recuperation before facing off with the Bulls once more.
Is it odd for LeBron to see Bulls in 9th? "Obviously, they've been such a rival for me in my recent years. So in that sense it is."
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) April 9, 2016
Would it be #PeakBulls to go out and put on a fantastic performance to keep their playoff hopes alive against their biggest nemesis? Probably.
Is it more likely the Bulls fold and roll over for James and the Cavs to end their season once more? Most would say yes. It’s been a pathetic campaign for a team that was widely-seen as the biggest threat to Cleveland winning another East crown.
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Losing to James with the postseason on the line would feel almost poetic for this team.