Chicago Bulls: Comparison made between ’86 MJ and Zion Williamson

The dynasty years of the Chicago Bulls are a far fetched roster from where they are in the modern day. They are not even part of the NBA’s restart plan.

The NBA’s 22-team resumption plan, with games supposed to start on July 31 at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, FL, does not involve the Chicago Bulls. There’s only one team from the Eastern Conference that will be participating in the “bubble” plan at Disney World late next month. And that one team is the Washington Wizards.

Three teams alone from the Central Division won’t be playing in Disney World. That includes the Bulls, Detroit Pistons, and Cleveland Cavaliers. But the Bulls were able to accomplish a good amount in a little more than the last two months to help shift the direction of the rebuild. The Bulls are still a long ways away from reaching the point of even consistent playoff contention.

The difference in the point between the Bulls were at during the days of the dynasty years and “The Last Dance” are immense. They were also highlighted by one recent comparison that Tim Bontemps and Andrew Lopez of ESPN in a piece released on the morning of June 24.

Bontemps and Lopez opened up on what it means for the NBA that the likes of the former Duke Blue Devils superstar forward Zion Williamson is healthy and ready to star for the New Orleans Pelicans. While Zion is sitting in the midst of the weirdest rookie season really possible, he could end it on a high note.

This piece from ESPN this morning compared Zion and the Pelicans to the situation that the Bulls all-time great shooting guard Michael Jordan and his team were facing against the dynasty known as the Boston Celtics in 1986.

Here’s what this piece had to say on comparing MJ and the 1986 Bulls with Zion and his current Pelicans team.

"“[Williamson is] a guy that drives eyeballs and attention,” said the Eastern Conference executive, before referencing another rising star coming off an injury who met a title favorite in the NBA playoffs almost 30 years ago.“[The NBA] would love to have a Michael Jordan versus the ’86 Celtics moment in the first round,” the executive continued. “If they could get their ideal world, that’s what they would want.”"

While Zion might not be the next MJ right out of the gates, he’s clearly got superstar level potential. He did dominate when given the chance with the Pelicans in the season prior to the hiatus. And he’ll definitely give the Pelicans a shot to make some noise in the bubble when the season resumes.

The Bulls finished up the 2019-20 season with a record of 22-43. This team is a far cry from where they were at during the dynasty years with MJ in the 1980’s and 1990’s.