Chicago Bulls: end of season roundtable discussion
By Luke Askew
How did you become a Chicago Bulls fan?
LA: As a kid, I watched the documentary Michael Jordan to the Max on repeat. And when I say on repeat, I mean I probably watched it 50+ times. It was my favorite movie. Naturally, growing up, I always thought the Bulls were cool because of Michael Jordan and that movie. Then Derrick Rose got drafted and 11-year-old Luke was sold – the Chicago Bulls were my team.
DG: Basketball is my favorite sport so growing up I would always watch Bulls basketball. The Bulls are a great organization that has the best fans in the world.
KP: I grew up in Chicago and became an avid Ben Gordon fan at an early age. I’ve followed the Bulls closely from Gordon, to Rose’s rise (and eventual fall), the Butler/3 Alphas season, and now during the rebuild.
MO: As a kid, I used to like falling asleep while listening to the radio. Being in the Chicago-land area, there was nothing better to put me to sleep than the 2001-2003 era Bulls. I fell in love with Kirk Hinrich as a player, though I’ll never understand the Bulls’ dedication to the guy, and then Baby Bulls took me away from there. Nothing has changed from 2001 Bulls to now, because this current Bulls team also put me to seep for the entire month of March. I’m kidding, but only slightly.
NN: My dad had been a Bulls fan since the team came into existence and I grew up in the south suburbs of Chicago. There really was no other choice, especially considering I got into basketball right as Derrick Rose and the Baby Bulls were making their seemingly-historic rise in the league.
IMK: I became a Bulls fan by living and growing up in the Chicago-land suburb and watching the Bulls of the 2000’s, like Kirk Hinrich, Ben Gordon, Luol Deng, Joakim Noah, Derrick Rose, etc.
WL: I actually only became a Bulls fan when I started writing for this site. I grew up in Cincinatti, where I struggled to find allegiance, so for most of my life, I’ve watched the NBA as a fan of the game. Now, due to the opportunities I’ve had through this website, I’ve really found a love for this team. I guess I should mention a certain warmness for Chicago, too. Shout out to Jeff Tweedy, Billy Corgan, and Lollapalooza.
JH: Being born in the ’90s, the Bulls were larger than life in that era. At every family party, there was also a Bulls game on in the background. I kind of just grew up in that setting. But I think my first real fan experience had to have been when the “Baby Bulls” made the playoffs for the first time since the Jordan era in 04-05. There’s just so much tradition when it comes to being a Bulls fan. If you aren’t a Bulls fan, then you just wouldn’t understand the connection the Bulls and their fans have. I mean just look at our attendance the past decade.
BB: I became a Bulls fan because my parents are from the Chicago area. I was born in Tampa, and they do not have an NBA team, so the Bulls became my team. Now that I live in Chicago, I go to a multitude of games and I live up to my Bulls fandom.