Two of the greatest NBA players ever played for the Chicago Bulls, and there are numerous others who made an impact on the franchise’s illustrious history.
The Chicago Bulls ruled the basketball world in the 1990s by winning six NBA championships in eight years. Those six titles are tied for third with the Warriors in NBA history, behind only the Celtics and Lakers.
All-time greats Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen led the way during the Bulls’ dynastic run, but they had plenty of help. Horace Grant, Dennis Rodman and Toni Kukoc are just a few of the other Bulls to make a monumental impact on championship teams.
While the Bulls haven’t won any other titles, they’ve had a laundry list of outstanding players who made an impact without winning a ring. Most notably, hometown product Derrick Rose became the youngest MVP in league history while leading the Bulls to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2011.
So, let’s take a look at the top 30 players in Bulls history. This ranking was compiled using multiple factors, including statistics, winning, notable plays, time spent with the organization and overall impact on the franchise.
There were some tough cuts to make for this list, including Carlos Boozer, Ron Harper, Luc Longley and Dave Corzine, to name a few. But the final spot goes to Charles Oakley, a rugged enforcer who became close with Michael Jordan during their few years together in Chicago.
The Bulls acquired Oakley, the No. 9 pick, from the Cleveland Cavaliers on draft night in 1985. The burly 6-foot-8 big man immediately became a key member of the rotation, averaging 9.6 points and 8.6 rebounds in 23.0 minutes per game as a rookie, earning him a place on the All-Rookie first team.
Oakley became a full-time starter the next two seasons, and he put up stellar numbers while playing all 82 games in both years. His most prolific year in Chicago came in 1986-87 when he put up 14.5 points, 13.1 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game. He recorded 20.0 points and 15.3 rebounds per game in the playoffs that year, but the Bulls were swept away in three games by the Boston Celtics.
The Bulls’ selection of Horace Grant in the first round of the 1987 NBA Draft proved to be the writing on the wall for Oakley’s time in Chicago. The Bulls traded Oakley to the New York Knicks for Bill Cartwright in 1988, a move that incensed Jordan at the time.
While Oakley only spent three years with the Bulls, he was a key member of the up-and-coming squad and valuable for Jordan’s development. His trade also brought in a key member of the team’s first three-peat, so Oak deserves a spot on this list.
Clifford Ray may not be a household name, but he was an effective anchor down low for the Bulls during the first three seasons of his 10-year NBA career. The Bulls selected Ray with the 40th pick in the 1971 NBA Draft, and he went on to make the All-Rookie first team after putting up 7.0 points, 10.6 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game. In the playoffs, he notched 15.3 points, 16.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists in four games.
Ray put up similar numbers in his final two campaigns for the Bulls, and he also recorded 2.2 blocks per game in 1973-74 when the NBA first started recording blocked shots. The 6-foot-9 center stuffed the stat sheet and provided a stellar defensive presence in the middle, and he helped the Bulls get to their first Western Conference Finals in 1974.
Ray’s base statistics may not look all that impressive, but his contributions are magnified when looking at some of the advanced numbers. He racked up over eight Win Shares in all three seasons with the Bulls, per Basketball-Reference.com, and his .184 Win Shares per 48 Minutes place him fourth in Bulls history. Furthermore, his 4.8 Defensive Box Plus/Minus in 1973-74 was tops in the entire league.
The Bulls traded Ray to the Golden State Warriors for Nate Thurmond in 1974, and Ray and the Warriors beat the Bulls in the 1975 Western Conference Finals before winning a championship. Thurmond recorded the NBA’s first official quadruple-double in his Bulls debut, but he was traded early in the 1975-76 season while Ray stayed with Golden State for the rest of his career.
The Bulls were terrible after the dynasty broke up, and their awful 1998-99 campaign resulted in them nabbing the No. 1 pick in the 1999 NBA Draft. They used that top pick on Elton Brand, who had just swept the national player of the year awards at Duke.
With the Bulls in rebuild mode, Brand was afforded the opportunity to be the team’s focal point from Day 1. He played 37.0 minutes per game as a rookie and recorded 20.1 points, 10.0 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game. He made the All-Rookie first team and was named Co-Rookie of the Year with Steve Francis. Brand even won the Rookie Challenge MVP.
Brand followed up his prolific rookie season with a similarly strong second year. His scoring, rebound and block numbers were almost identical, but he improved his assist average from 1.9 to 3.2 per game.
The Bulls remained awful during these years, though, and Jerry Krause decided to shake things up at the 2001 NBA Draft. The Bulls had the No. 4 pick that year and selected hometown kid Eddy Curry, and Krause shipped Brand off to the Los Angeles Clippers in order to get Tyson Chandler, the No. 2 pick.
While Chandler has turned in an excellent NBA career, the Bulls’ youthful twin towers setup never blossomed as hoped. Brand immediately became an All-Star in 2002 and averaged 20 and 10 in seven seasons in Los Angeles. He just recently retired after a terrific 17-year career, and one wonders where he may have ended up on this list if the Bulls didn’t trade him away after just two seasons.
After the Bulls missed on Carmelo Anthony during the summer of 2014, they turned their attention to future Hall of Famer Pau Gasol. Gasol had just finished up six-plus seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers, with two titles to his name, but he was ready to move on to a new situation.
The Bulls’ acquisition of Gasol was somewhat controversial given the presence of Joakim Noah, who had just finished off a campaign in which he received MVP votes and won Defensive Player of the Year. The duo never quite meshed and Gasol’s two-year tenure with the Bulls ultimately ended in disappointment, but it’s hard to overlook just how productive Pau was in Chicago.
Gasol went to the All-Star Game in both 2015 and 2016, and he averaged 17.6 points, 11.4 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.0 blocks in 33.1 minutes per game over those two seasons. He was named to the All-NBA second team in 2015 as the Bulls won 50 games and made it to the second round of the playoffs. The Bulls had LeBron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers on the ropes in that second round, but a Gasol injury and Game 4 collapse helped thwart the potential upset.
The Bulls nearly traded Gasol in 2016, but they kept him in hopes of making a run to the postseason. That didn’t happen, and the big man signed with the San Antonio Spurs that summer to end his brief stint in Chicago. His 22.2 Player Efficiency Rating, 11.4 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game are second in Bulls history.
In the 1979 NBA Draft, the Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers participated in a coin flip to determine the No. 1 pick. The Lakers won the coin flip and selected Magic Johnson, who became one of the best players in NBA history. The Bulls? They took David Greenwood, a 6-foot-9 forward out of UCLA.
Greenwood was obviously no Magic Johnson, but he had a stellar six-year run in Chicago. The most productive year of his career was actually his rookie season, in which he put up 16.3 points, 9.4 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.6 blocks per game. Those numbers earned Greenwood a spot on the All-Rookie first team alongside Magic, Larry Bird and future Bull Bill Cartwright.
Greenwood never matched that scoring average again, but his production stayed mostly steady throughout the rest of his Bulls tenure. He averaged a double-double in 1983-84 and came close in four other seasons.
Greenwood appeared in the postseason with the Bulls on two separate occasions. In his first appearance in 1981, the big man recorded 17.8 points and 7.3 rebounds per game as the Bulls lost to the Boston Celtics in the second round. That scoring average was third just behind Reggie Theus and Artis Gilmore.
Greenwood fell off in Michael Jordan’s first year, and the forward was traded to the San Antonio Spurs for George Gervin just before the 1985-86 season. Greenwood is currently seventh in Bulls history in offensive rebounds, fifth in defensive rebounds, eighth in total rebounds and eighth in blocks.
Bob Boozer was with the Bulls at the very beginning. They chose the 6-foot-8 forward in the 1966 NBA Expansion Draft after he had already spent six seasons in the league. While he had been a solid NBA player to that point, he took his game to new heights in Chicago.
Boozer only played three seasons with the Bulls, but he was the clear-cut top scoring option in two of those years and just missed leading the team in scoring in the other season. In the Bulls’ inaugural season, he notched 18.0 points and 8.5 rebounds per game before going for 19.7 points and 11.7 rebounds per game in the postseason.
Boozer stepped his game up another level in 1967-68. He made the only All-Star Game of his career and averaged 21.5 points and 9.8 rebounds in 38.8 minutes per contest. He then put up 18.8 points and 8.8 rebounds per game in the playoffs, though the Bulls lost in the first round just like they did the prior season.
Boozer upped his scoring average to 21.7 points per game in his third and final season in Chicago, but the Bulls failed to make the playoffs. He was then traded to the Seattle SuperSonics.
Boozer scored 20.4 points per game in his three seasons, which places him fifth in Bulls history. Boozer is also sixth in Win Shares per 48 minutes, just a tad behind Clifford Ray and Jimmy Butler, per Basketball-Reference.com. Carlos Boozer may be the more well-known Bull these days, but Bob Boozer was the more impactful player.
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.
Tom Boerwinkle wasn’t quite an original Bull, but he came along in the franchise’s third season and spent the entirety of his 10-year NBA career in Chicago. The Bulls picked the 7-foot Tennessee product fourth in the 1968 NBA Draft.
Boerwinkle was a double-double machine to begin his career and an important force in the middle while playing with guys like Bob Love, Chet Walker and Jerry Sloan. As a rookie, Boerwinkle just missed averaging a double-double by putting up 9.8 points and 11.1 rebounds per game. He hit that double-double average in his second season with 10.4 points and 12.5 rebounds per contest. That season, he exploded for 17.6 points, 14.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game in the playoffs, though the Bulls lost to the Atlanta Hawks in five games.
Boerwinkle had the most productive year of his career in 1970-71. He recorded career highs in points (10.8) and rebounds (13.8) per game, and he continued to develop his playmaking skills by handing out 4.8 dimes per game. His numbers dipped a bit in the playoffs, though, and the Bulls lost a seven-game series to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Boerwinkle never came close to matching that 1970-71 production again, and some injury woes limited him at times throughout the rest of his career. He did have a slight resurgence in 1975-76 when he snared 10.7 rebounds per game and got his scoring average back up to 8.8, but that was his last season as a major contributor. After his playing career, Boerwinkle spent time as a Bulls radio analyst.
Boerwinkle is seventh in Bulls history in games played and second in total rebounds, only behind Michael Jordan. The big man is also ninth in assists, an impressive feat for a center.
When the Bulls were looking to build a championship roster around Michael Jordan, they knew they needed a tough veteran presence in the middle. With Charles Oakley expendable thanks to the arrival of Horace Grant, the Bulls used Oakley to get that presence by trading for New York Knicks center Bill Cartwright.
Cartwright was a prolific contributor for the Knicks, even scoring over 20 points per game in each of his first two seasons in the NBA. The 7-foot-1 center never scored more than 12.4 points per game with the Bulls and was near the end of the line when they won their first three championships, but he was still a very important piece. Don’t let the 7.8 points and 5.0 rebounds per game in Chicago fool you.
Cartwright took over as the Bulls’ starting center immediately upon arrival, and he kept that role throughout his six seasons in Chicago. He didn’t miss any playoff games over his first five seasons as a Bull, making him a reliable linchpin down low.
Cartwright left the Bulls after the 1993-94 season and signed with the Seattle SuperSonics. He only played 29 games that year and retired after a successful 15-year career.
Cartwright returned to the Bulls as an assistant coach under Phil Jackson in 1996 and won two more championships on the bench. Cartwright stuck around when Tim Floyd took over for Jackson, and the former Bulls big man became head coach in 2001. It wasn’t a successful run, though, as he went 51-100.
John Paxson has been a member of the Bulls for nearly every season since he signed as a free agent all the way back in 1985. Paxson spent nine years with the organization as a player before retiring in 1994, then he returned as an assistant coach under Phil Jackson for the historic 1995-96 campaign. Paxson soon became a member of the radio broadcasting team before joining the front office in 2003, where he remains to this day.
As a player, Paxson went through the trials and tribulations of Michael Jordan’s Bulls before they finally broke through for their first championship in 1991. The 6-foot-2 guard started every game in the 1990-91 season, and he capped off the year by hitting multiple key shots down the stretch of Game 5 of the NBA Finals to defeat the Los Angeles Lakers.
Paxson was again the starter next to Michael Jordan during the 1991-92 season, and he ran out the clock on the Bulls’ back-to-back titles. Paxson moved to a bench role behind B.J. Armstrong the following year, but the veteran guard finished that season by hitting one of the biggest shots in Bulls history:
Paxson never put up big numbers, but his steady presence as a shooter and passer was important as the Bulls went from an up-and-coming team to a dynasty. He shot 50.0 percent from the field as a Bull, including 36.3 percent from long range. His 645 games as a Bull are the fifth-most in team history, and he’s fourth in effective field goal percentage at 53.0 percent.
Steve Kerr barely gets the edge over John Paxson to get into the top 20 of this list. While Kerr wasn’t a starter for the Bulls and didn’t have the longevity of Paxson in Chicago, his incredible efficiency and own title-winning shot gives him this spot.
The Bulls signed Kerr in 1993, so he spent a season-plus with the team before Michael Jordan returned. The 6-foot-3 guard played five seasons in Chicago, and he didn’t miss a single game over the course of the first four of them. Three of the five seasons resulted in championships.
Kerr was one of the deadliest shooters in the league. He never shot worse than 41.9 percent from 3 as a Bull, and he shot a league-best 52.4 percent from distance in 1994-95. He followed that up by making 51.5 percent of his triples in 1995-96 and winning the 3-Point Shootout in 1997. His 47.9 percent mark from 3 with the Bulls is by far the best in team history, and his 60.0 effective field goal percentage is also first. His 62.5 true shooting percentage is second behind only Artis Gilmore.
And that title-winning shot? In Game 6 of the 1997 NBA Finals against the Utah Jazz, Jordan told Kerr to be ready if there was a double-team. That double came, and Jordan found Kerr for a jumper at the free-throw line for the winner and a fifth title in seven years:
Kerr’s speech at the championship rally about the shot will also go down in infamy.
Just before Michael Jordan came to town, Orlando Woolridge was one of the Bulls’ premier players. The Bulls used the No. 6 pick in the 1981 NBA Draft on Woolridge, and he played five seasons with the team before signing with the New Jersey Nets in 1986.
Woolridge was primarily a bench player in his rookie season, but he got a much bigger opportunity in his second year. He then became the Bulls’ full-time starter at small forward in 1983-84, putting up 19.3 points and 4.9 rebounds per game in the process.
Woolridge’s scoring average continued to go up even with Jordan in the fold. The 6-foot-9 forward poured in 22.9 points per game on 55.4 percent shooting in Jordan’s rookie season. Woolridge also scored 20.5 points per game in the playoffs.
Woolridge had one more productive season in Chicago, with a 20.7 points per game average in 1985-86. With Jordan out for most of the season, Woolridge became the de facto No. 1 scoring option. He notched 21.0 points per game in another short playoff series.
While Woolridge was a prolific scorer and highlight-reel dunker (he participated in the 1984 and 1985 Slam Dunk Contests), he wasn’t the best fit with Jordan because he didn’t offer much besides scoring. The Bulls were fine with Woolridge leaving, and they got multiple draft picks as compensation.
Woolridge scored 17.4 points per game as a Bull, and he shot an efficient 53.2 percent from the field. That field goal percentage is the second-best in Bulls history, with Artis Gilmore well ahead in the No. 1 spot.
The Bulls held the No. 18 pick in the 1989 NBA Draft, and they used it on B.J. Armstrong, a 6-foot-2 point guard out of Iowa. Armstrong started his Bulls career as a reliable backup behind John Paxson before taking Paxson’s starting job in the 1992-93 season.
Armstrong only missed one game during his first Bulls stint, which spanned six seasons and a bunch of deep playoff runs, including three championships. He was a stellar caretaker at point guard and a terrific 3-point shooter. When he took over as the starter, Armstrong led the league in 3-point shooting at 45.3 percent en route to 12.3 points per game.
Armstrong stayed with the Bulls for two more seasons after Michael Jordan’s first retirement. The guard was even voted in as a starter for the 1994 All-Star Game, and that season he scored a career-high 14.8 points per game while shooting 44.4 percent from deep. He followed that up by putting up 14.0 points per game with a 42.7 percent mark from distance in 1994-95. He’s second in Bulls history with his 43.7 percent 3-point accuracy.
Armstrong was selected by the Toronto Raptors in the 1995 NBA Expansion Draft, but he refused to report and went to the Golden State Warriors. He ultimately returned to the Bulls in 1999-00 before retiring.
Armstrong joined the Bulls’ front office after his playing days, but he was passed over for the general manager job and Paxson got the gig instead. Armstrong left the organization in 2005 and became an agent, with Derrick Rose part of his client list.
The Bulls were one of the worst teams in the league in the aftermath of Michael Jordan’s second retirement. They didn’t sniff the playoffs for six consecutive seasons, with only one of those years seeing 30 wins. A 23-59 record in the 2003-04 season gave them the third pick in the 2004 NBA Draft, and the Bulls used that pick to select Ben Gordon out of UConn.
Gordon took the league by storm as the Bulls made a 24-win improvement to finish the 2004-05 season with a 47-35 record and the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference. The 6-foot-3 guard poured in 15.1 points per game and scored in double figures 21 times in the fourth quarter, second to only LeBron James. Gordon’s scoring exploits garnered him Sixth Man of the Year honors and a spot on the All-Rookie first team.
Gordon was a prolific scorer throughout his five years in Chicago. He notched over 20 points per game twice and scored a career-high 48 points in a March 2007 game. He scored 18.5 points per game in his Bulls career, which is just outside the top 10 in team history.
Gordon’s 3-point prowess was a big reason for his success. He never shot under 40.5 percent from 3 as a Bull and hit 41.5 percent over his five years, placing him sixth in franchise history. His 770 made triples are second behind only Kirk Hinrich, his teammate for all five seasons in Chicago. In 2006, Gordon tied an NBA record for consecutive made 3s in a game with nine.
Gordon scored 24.3 points per game in the thrilling seven-game series against the Boston Celtics in 2009, including a 42-point effort, but he left the Bulls after that season to sign a big contract with the Detroit Pistons.
The Bulls wanted Dwyane Wade in the 2003 NBA Draft, but after they failed to move up to get him, they opted for Kirk Hinrich with the No. 7 pick. While missing out on Wade hurt, Hinrich wasn’t a bad consolation prize as he helped bring the Bulls back from the depths of miserable losing.
The Bulls were bad in Hinrich’s rookie season, but he enjoyed a solid campaign and made it on the All-Rookie first team along with Wade, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Bosh. Not bad company.
With the additions of Ben Gordon and Luol Deng in the 2004 draft, Hinrich and the Bulls took a big step forward. They returned to the playoffs and made it to the postseason three consecutive years, with 2006-07 representing the best year of Captain Kirk’s career. He recorded 16.6 points, 6.3 assists and 3.4 rebounds per game, and he shot a career-best 41.5 percent on 3-pointers.
Hinrich’s leadership, grit and pesky defense were on full display during these years. Ironically enough, his aggressive, annoying defense often gave Wade a hard time, and the Bulls swept Wade’s Miami Heat in the 2007 playoffs a year after the Heat won the title.
The Bulls traded Hinrich in 2010 as part of their ill-fated attempt to chase Wade, LeBron and Bosh, but the guard returned in 2012. He was traded one more time to the Atlanta Hawks in 2016 before retiring.
Hinrich currently sits third in games played in Bulls history, and his 1,049 3-pointers made are first by a wide margin. He’s also third in assists and steals.
The Bulls selected Reggie Theus with the No. 9 pick in the 1978 NBA Draft, and he made waves on and off the court during his five-plus seasons in Chicago.
Theus enjoyed a terrific rookie season, going for 16.3 points and 5.2 assists per game and a spot on the All-Rookie first team. He was even better in Year 2, with averages of 20.2 points, 6.3 assists and 4.0 rebounds per contest.
Theus’ numbers dipped in his third season, but he made his first All-Star Game and played in his only playoff games for Chicago. He notched 19.8 points, 6.3 assists and 3.5 rebounds in six postseason games.
Theus appeared in one more All-Star Game in 1983. That season he put up a career-high 23.8 points per game, but his Bulls tenure went downhill after that. New Bulls head coach Kevin Loughery jerked around Theus’ minutes at the start of the 1983-84 season, even benching the guard at times because of poor defense. The Bulls wound up trading Theus to the Kansas City Kings for Steve Johnson and three future second-round picks.
While Theus’ time with the Bulls ended poorly, his overall averages of 18.8 points and 5.6 assists per game are some of the best in team history. His scoring average ranks ninth and passing mark ranks fourth.
As for those off-court waves? Rush Street Reggie became a thing because of Theus’ active social life on Rush Street in downtown Chicago. This only helped his popularity among Bulls fans.
Stormin’ Norman Van Lier started his career with the Bulls when they chose him 34th overall in the 1969 NBA Draft, but the guard was immediately traded to the Cincinnati Royals. The Bulls got Van Lier back early in the 1971-72 season, though, and he proceeded to become an integral part of the franchise.
Van Lier never put up huge numbers, but he was a steady scoring option, stellar playmaker and ferocious defender. Defense was his true calling card, and he was a fixture on All-Defensive teams. He made the first team three times with the Bulls and is fifth in team history in steals.
Van Lier made the All-Star Game three times as a Bull, with the first appearance coming in 1974 when he averaged 14.3 points, 6.9 assists, 4.7 rebounds and 2.0 steals in 35.8 minutes per game. He was also a member of the All-NBA second team and helped lead the Bulls to the Western Conference Finals. They returned the next season, with Van Lier again playing a key role.
Van Lier’s effectiveness dipped in 1977-78, and the Bulls decided to waive the popular guard after the year. He played 38 games for the Milwaukee Bucks in 1978-79 before retiring.
In addition to Van Lier’s big steal numbers, his 6.9 assists per game as a Bull is second in team history. Ennis Whatley is first at 7.0 assists per game, but he only played with the team for two seasons. Van Lier is fourth in total assists.
Van Lier returned to the Bulls as a radio broadcaster in the early 1980s, and later he became a fixture as a Bulls television analyst for pregame and postgame shows until he passed away in 2009.
Ben Gordon was initially thought to be the prize of the 2004 NBA Draft for the Bulls, but they acquired a second top-10 pick that year, Luol Deng, and he proceeded to have one of the most productive careers in team history.
Deng earned a spot on the All-Rookie first team and became a key cog in the Bulls’ lineup for a decade. While he wouldn’t make his first All-Star Game until 2012, he had arguably his best season in 2006-07 when he averaged 18.8 points, 7.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 37.5 minutes per game. The Bulls won 49 games that season and made it to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since the Jordan era.
When Tom Thibodeau came around, Deng became an iron man of sorts. He played over 39 minutes per game in Thibodeau’s first season in Chicago, and then led the league in minutes per game the next two years, both All-Star campaigns. Deng’s tenure in Chicago ended in 2014 when he was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers. His 637 games are sixth in Bulls history.
While Deng was never an elite offensive player, he was a steady contributor and finished his Bulls career with 10,286 points, the fourth-most in franchise history. He was a terrific player on the defensive end and is fourth in Defensive Win Shares, per Basketball-Reference.com. His quiet leadership was also important in the locker room, and he won the Sportsmanship Award in 2007 and the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award in 2014.
Early in the second round of the 1990 NBA Draft, the Bulls drafted a talented young forward out of Croatia named Toni Kukoc. Kukoc remained in Europe for several more years, but Jerry Krause couldn’t wait for his hidden gem to come to Chicago.
Krause’s love of Kukoc and attempts to pay him handsomely to come to the NBA rubbed Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen the wrong way, especially because Pippen had contract squabbles of his own. This displeasure manifested itself in the 1992 Olympics:
Jordan retired right before Kukoc finally came over. There would be more fireworks with Pippen in 1994, but when Jordan came back and the Bulls returned to power, Kukoc played an important role.
Kukoc was primarily a bench player for the Bulls’ fourth and fifth championships, and he won Sixth Man of the Year in 1996. He took on a slightly larger role for the final title run.
Kukoc’s versatility is what made him special. At 6-foot-10, he could shoot, handle the ball and make plays for others, allowing him to play a point forward role at times. He handed out over four assists per game as a Bull and is in the top 10 in franchise history in total assists.
Kukoc remained with the Bulls after the dynasty broke up. He put up 18.8 points, 7.0 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game in the lockout-shortened 1998-99 season, and he played 24 games with the Bulls the next season before getting traded to the Philadelphia 76ers. He’s now back with the Bulls as a special advisor.
When the Bulls traded Eddy Curry to the New York Knicks in 2005, part of the deal involved a first-round pick swap in 2007. The swap worked out in a big way, as the Bulls went from No. 23 to No. 9 and wound up with Florida center Joakim Noah after he won back-to-back national championships with the Gators.
It took some time for Noah to develop into an All-Star, but he was a key member of the Bulls’ rotation from the beginning. In his second season, he submitted one of the more memorable plays in recent Bulls history:
Noah continued to get better and better, and he finally earned his first All-Star berth in 2013 when he averaged 11.9 points, 11.1 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.1 blocks in 36.8 minutes per game. The energetic big man also made the All-Defensive first team that season. In the playoffs, he delivered a gutty Game 7 performance to beat the Brooklyn Nets despite a nasty bout of plantar fasciitis.
The following season, Noah turned in the best year of his career. With Derrick Rose hurt again and Luol Deng traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers, Noah led the Bulls to the postseason with his terrific play on both ends. He was the defensive anchor and point center, averaging 12.6 points, 11.3 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 1.5 blocks and 1.2 steals. He made another All-Star Game, won Defensive Player of the Year and finished fourth in MVP voting.
Unfortunately, the huge load over those two All-Star seasons took a toll on Noah. His career has gone downhill since that incredible 2013-14 season, and he has made almost zero impact with the New York Knicks after leaving the Bulls in 2016.
Still, Noah’s efforts as a player and emotional leader shouldn’t be diminished because of how things ended. He’s the franchise leader in offensive rebounds and is fourth in both defensive rebounds and total rebounds. He’s third in blocks, fourth in Value Over Replacement Player and in the top 10 in numerous other advanced stats, per Basketball-Reference.com. He goes down in Bulls history as a fan favorite.
When the Bulls won their first three championships, they had an outstanding power forward in Horace Grant to rebound, defend and do a lot of the dirty work. They didn’t have that when Michael Jordan returned from retirement in 1995, so acquiring one was important in order for more championships runs.
Enter Dennis Rodman.
The Bulls traded Will Perdue for Rodman prior to the 1995-96 season. Rodman made a name for himself as a nasty defender with the Bad Boys Pistons, and he won back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year awards in Detroit. He blossomed into the league’s best rebounder at the tail end of his Pistons tenure.
While Rodman was on the downside of his career when he joined the Bulls, he was still an impact player. He made the All-Defensive first team in 1996 and led the league in rebounding in all three of his Bulls seasons, with his 15.3 rebounds per game as a Bull the best mark in franchise history by a lot. His rugged defense in the post was invaluable, and he developed a rivalry against Karl Malone:
Rodman was renowned for his antics on and off the court, and while they weren’t always positive, the Bulls needed his production and edge to get back to the top of the mountain.
The Bulls had a quality power forward in Charles Oakley when they selected Horace Grant with the 10th pick in the 1987 NBA Draft. Grant played a key bench role behind Oakley in his first season, and then the Bulls shipped Oakley off to the New York Knicks for Bill Cartwright, who became the starting center.
As a starter, Grant blossomed into one of the league’s most important role players. Grant was a steady No. 3 scoring option behind Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, while providing strong rebounding, defense and a dash of passing. The power forward never put up huge numbers, but he was instrumental in winning those first three championships.
Grant was involved in two of the most memorable plays of the 1993 playoffs. Grant had the title-winning assist in Game 6 of the NBA Finals, and he was the first to record a block during the block party of Charles Smith in a pivotal game against the New York Knicks:
Grant stayed with the Bulls for one more season after Jordan’s first retirement, and that year represented the power forward’s only All-Star appearance. Grant put up career highs in points, rebounds and assists that season, and he also made the All-Defensive second team for a second straight year. He signed with the Orlando Magic that offseason and wound up retiring in 2004, but he’s now back with the Bulls as a special advisor.
Grant is second in franchise history in offensive rebounds, third in field goal percentage, fifth in Win Shares and fifth in Value Over Replacement Player, per Basketball-Reference.com.
With the Bulls securing the best record in the NBA in 2010-11, they had the 30th pick in the 2011 NBA Draft. That pick became Marquette’s Jimmy Butler, an athletic role player with an incredible backstory. Not many people could have guessed what Butler would become as an NBA player.
Butler showed flashes of brilliance early in his career, and Tom Thibodeau trusted him so much that he played 48 minutes in five playoff games for the undermanned Bulls in 2013. But it wasn’t until 2014-15 that Butler truly broke out.
Butler was hampered by a toe injury in 2013-14 and failed to reach an agreement on a contract extension after that season, so all he did was come back in 2014-15 and blossom into an All-Star. He won Most Improved Player and earned himself a max contract in the process.
Butler just kept getting better from there, culminating in a career year in 2016-17. He averaged 23.9 points, 6.2 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 1.9 steals in 37.0 minutes per game that year, giving him a spot on the All-NBA third team for the first time. He also made it to the All-Star Game for the third consecutive season.
While Butler had developed into a borderline top-10 player, the Bulls’ failures as a team resulted in a decision to rebuild. That meant trading Butler, who went to the Minnesota Timberwolves in a deal that brought Lauri Markkanen, Zach LaVine and Kris Dunn to Chicago. The Bulls are hoping those three players can be cornerstones of their next successful team, so the legacy of Butler lives on in Chicago.
The Bulls nabbed Jerry “The Original Bull” Sloan from the Baltimore Bullets in the 1966 NBA Expansion Draft. Sloan spent the remainder of his 11-year NBA career in Chicago and became the first Bull to have his jersey (No. 4) retired.
Sloan made his first of two All-Star Games in the Bulls’ inaugural season. He recorded 17.4 points and 9.1 rebounds per game as the Bulls made the playoffs, though they got swept away in the first round by the St. Louis Hawks.
Sloan’s other All-Star appearance came in 1969, but his most productive season came in 1970-71 when he put up 18.3 points, 8.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game for the 51-win Bulls. The guard was a prominent performer on eight Bulls playoff teams and averaged 14.1 points and 7.9 rebounds in 50 postseason games for Chicago.
In addition to his stellar scoring and rebounding numbers, Sloan was known for his hounding defense on the perimeter. When the NBA finally began recording steals in 1973-74, he racked up 2.4 steals per contest. He followed that up with another 2.2 per game in 1974-75.
Sloan’s NBA career came to an end in 1976 due to knee problems. He soon returned to the organization as a scout. He then became an assistant coach before being promoted to head coach in 1979. He spent two-plus seasons as the Bulls’ head coach, with one playoff appearance to his name, and he would go on to become a highly successful coach with the Utah Jazz.
Sloan is fourth in Bulls history in games played, and he’s fifth in both points and rebounds. He went into the Hall of Fame in 2009.
The Bulls acquired Chet Walker in a 1969 trade with the Philadelphia 76ers. The 6-foot-6 forward spent the last six years of his NBA career in Chicago, and he was an extremely productive player who helped the Bulls reach the postseason in all six of those years.
Walker made the 1970 All-Star Game in his first Bulls season, going for 21.5 points, 7.7 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game while starring alongside Bob Love, Jerry Sloan, Clem Haskins and Tom Boerwinkle. Walker made the All-Star Game again in 1971, and he scored a career-high 22.0 points per game in both that season and 1971-72.
Walker made two more All-Star Games in Chicago, in 1973 and 1974. He scored nearly 21 points per game in the 1974 playoffs when the Bulls reached the Western Conference Finals, and he went for 17.5 points per game in the playoffs when they returned to the Western Conference Finals in 1975. He scored 17.5 points per game in 47 postseason appearances as a Bull. The forward retired after the 1975 playoff run.
Walker went for 20.6 points and 6.1 rebounds per game over his six Bulls seasons. That scoring average is fourth in franchise history, and he’s sixth in total points. He was a terrific free-throw shooter who led the league with an 85.9 percent mark in 1970-71. He’s also third in Offensive Win Shares and Win Shares, plus second in Win Shares per 48 Minutes and Offensive Box Plus/Minus, per Basketball-Reference.com.
Walker was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2012.
Bob Love was a fixture of the Bulls from almost the very beginning of the franchise. After a few ho-hum years to start his career, the Bulls acquired Love from the Milwaukee Bucks in the middle of the 1968-69 season. The forward didn’t do much the rest of that year, but he broke out the following season and became a longtime star.
Love notched 21.0 points and 8.7 rebounds per game in the 1969-70 campaign, putting him just behind Chet Walker for the scoring lead. Love struggled in the playoffs that year, but he came back and had one of the best seasons of his career in 1970-71. He exploded for 25.2 points and 8.5 rebounds per game in the regular season, and he jumped to 26.7 points per game in a seven-game series loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Love made his first of three straight All-Star Games in 1971, and he also made the All-NBA second team. The next season, the 6-foot-8 forward scored a career-high 25.8 points per game and made the All-NBA second team once again. He earned a spot on the All-Defensive second team as well, and he would make two other All-Defensive squads in his career.
Love enjoyed prolific playoff runs in 1974 and 1975 as the Bulls went to the Western Conference Finals both years. His time in Chicago came to an end when the Bulls traded him to the New York Nets in 1976. He’s now back with the organization as an ambassador and Director of Community Affairs.
Love’s No. 10 jersey was the second jersey number retired by the franchise. He’s third in Bulls history in points and points per game. In addition to his terrific play on the court, Love is also an example of perseverance for overcoming a severe stuttering problem that he had dealt with since childhood.
The Bulls initially selected Artis Gilmore in the seventh round of the 1971 NBA Draft, but he signed a record contract in the ABA and dominated that league for five seasons. Gilmore went into the 1976 ABA Dispersal Draft when the NBA and ABA merged and his Kentucky Colonels folded, and the Bulls selected him with the first pick of that draft.
Gilmore’s domination on the hardwood continued in Chicago. He put up 18.6 points, 13.0 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game in his first Bulls season, and he put up similar numbers in the postseason. The 7-foot-2 center became even more productive from there, posting 22.9 points and 13.1 rebounds per game in 1977-78 and 23.7 points and 12.7 rebounds per game in 1978-79. He earned All-Star nods in both seasons.
Gilmore totaled four All-Star appearances in Chicago. In his last two seasons with the team, the big man led the league in field goal percentage. He shot a career-high 67.0 percent in 1980-81 and led the Bulls to the second round of the playoffs. He followed that up by shooting 65.2 percent in 1981-82.
The Bulls traded Gilmore to the San Antonio Spurs in 1982, and he was traded back in 1987. His second stint with the Bulls was short, though, as he was soon sent to the Boston Celtics before retiring at the end of the 1987-88 season. He finished his Bulls career with averages of 19.3 points, 11.1 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game.
Gilmore was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2011. He’s first in Bulls history in blocks, field goal percentage and true shooting percentage. He’s also in the top four in numerous advanced statistics, according to Basketball-Reference.com.
Derrick Rose’s Bulls career ultimately ended in major disappointment, and he was only at the peak of his powers for a fleeting moment. But that peak was something to behold, which is why he comes in at No. 3 on this list despite his relatively short tenure in Chicago and the lack of a championship.
When the Bulls got lucky and won the 2008 NBA Draft Lottery with just 1.7 percent odds, they had a choice between Rose, the hometown kid, and Michael Beasley. The Bulls rightfully took Rose, and he was a star from the beginning. The electric point guard put up 16.8 points, 6.3 assists and 3.9 rebounds per game en route to Rookie of the Year. In his playoff debut, Rose scored 36 points against the Boston Celtics to tie Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for most points scored by a rookie in his playoff debut.
Rose took another step the following season and made it to his first All-Star Game, but it was the 2010-11 campaign that saw him truly become one of the best players in the league. After suggesting before the season that he could win MVP, he went out and did just that, leading the Bulls to a league-best 62 wins in the process. He averaged 25.0 points, 7.7 assists and 4.1 rebounds in 37.4 minutes per game and became the youngest MVP in NBA history:
Rose’s Bulls were bested by LeBron James’ Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals, but it looked like the beginning of a new rivalry between the two teams. It all came crashing down, though, when Rose tore his ACL in 2012. He battled injuries throughout the rest of his Bulls tenure, and he was traded in 2016 to the New York Knicks.
While Rose’s career was derailed by injuries, what he meant to the franchise and city as a whole during his few years of greatness can’t be overlooked. Having the humble hometown kid leading the Bulls back to true relevancy was a terrific story, and it’s unfortunate that he turned into a giant what-if?
Michael Jordan may have been the driving force behind the Bulls’ dynasty, but he needed an elite sidekick to reach the promised land. The Bulls acquired that sidekick when Jerry Krause made a trade on draft night in 1987 to get Pippen, the No. 5 pick and a relative unknown out of Central Arkansas.
Pippen had a rather nondescript rookie season, but it wasn’t long before he became the stud running mate Jordan needed. Pippen made his first All-Star Game in 1990, his third season, and he went on to go to six more All-Star Games as a Bull.
Pippen’s versatility drove his success. Not only was he a bona fide No. 2 scoring option, but he was a terrific playmaker and one of the best wing defenders in the NBA. Pippen and Jordan teamed up to hound opposing wings as part of the Bulls’ infamous Doberman Defense, and Pip was a fixture on All-Defensive teams throughout the dynasty era:
While everybody recognized just how good Pippen was as a second banana, he proved he could be a pretty darn good alpha dog himself in 1993-94 when Jordan retired. Pippen notched a career-high 22.0 points per game that season to go along with 8.7 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 2.9 steals per game. He won All-Star Game MVP and finished third in MVP voting as the Bulls won 55 games. He also made his first All-NBA first team that year and went on to make the team the next two years as well. He was named to the NBA’s 50th Anniversary All-Time Team in 1996.
Pippen left the Bulls in 1998 after the sixth championship, but he returned for a brief stint in 2003-04 before hanging up his sneakers. His No. 33 was soon retired by the Bulls, and he went into the Hall of Fame in 2010. He’s now a special advisor in the team’s front office.
Winning big in sports always takes at least a little luck, and the Bulls were certainly lucky that the Houston Rockets and Portland Trail Blazers passed on Michael Jeffrey Jordan in the 1984 NBA Draft. While the Rockets’ selection of Hakeem Olajuwon worked out swimmingly, the Blazers’ decision to go with Sam Bowie will always go down as an all-time backfire.
Nobody could have known back then that Jordan was going to become the GOAT, but he proved right away how special he was. He won Rookie of the Year in 1985 after putting up a whopping 28.2 points per game on 51.5 percent shooting. After an injury hiccup in Year 2, MJ blossomed into the league’s most dominant player.
Jordan scored 37.1 points per game in his third season and went on to lead the NBA in scoring for seven straight seasons leading up to his first retirement. He won his first MVP in 1988 and two more in 1991 and 1992, plus a Defensive Player of the Year award in 1988. He put on a show with his aerial theatrics every night, and he won back-to-back Slam Dunk Contests in 1987 and 1988.
Jordan’s dominance didn’t bring championship success right away, but Jerry Krause built a terrific team around him that finally got over the hump in 1991. Jordan’s Bulls won two more titles before his abrupt retirement in 1993, and then they won three more when he came back. He added three more scoring titles, three more NBA Finals MVPs and two more MVPs. In all, MJ won 10 scoring titles, six NBA Finals MVPs and five MVPs in Chicago. He scored a ridiculous 31.5 points per game as a Bull, with an even more ridiculous 33.4 scoring average in the postseason.
Jordan’s accomplishments are seemingly endless. From his 63-point playoff game as a rookie to his final shot with the Bulls in 1998, he provided too many breathtaking performances and moments to count:
Jordan exponentially helped grow basketball globally and ultimately became bigger than the game itself. He’s immortalized in Bulls history, with his No. 23 hanging in the rafters of the United Center and his statue in the atrium. It may happen sometime in the future, but it’s hard to imagine anybody else ever being the greatest Bull of all time.