When the Bulls selected 24-year-old big man Taj Gibson with the 26th pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, most fans likely weren’t expecting him to be a key player in establishing the Bulls’ identity for nearly a decade.
Gibson started 70 games as a rookie and made the All-Rookie first team, but he settled into a bench role after the Bulls signed Carlos Boozer in the summer of 2010. While Boozer started and put up bigger numbers, Gibson was arguably the more important player. His tenacious defense and hard hat, lunch pail mentality helped lead the Bulls’ terrific Bench Mob, and Tom Thibodeau would often close games with Gibson over Boozer because of how dominant Gibson and Joakim Noah were as a frontcourt duo on the defensive end.
Gibson was never a prolific offensive player in Chicago, but he attacked the offensive glass ferociously and had his share of monster dunks. His most memorable came against the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals:
Gibson’s most productive season came in 2013-14 when Derrick Rose was hurt again and Luol Deng was traded away. Gibson and Noah helped drag the undermanned Bulls to the playoffs, with Taj averaging 13.0 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in 28.7 minutes per game.
Gibson became a primary starter again for the last year-plus of his Bulls career before they traded him to the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2017. He currently sits 10th in franchise history in games played, fifth in blocks and sixth in offensive rebounds.