The Bulls’ rebuild ends when their NBA schedule earns a Christmas Day game

In all the digital pageantry that surrounds NBA regular-season schedule announcements across the league, there is a focal point of the NBA schedule that is the undisputed pinnacle of the 82-game marathon NBA regular season.  It has nothing to do with a cup, by the way.

The NBA’s annual Christmas Day slate of games is the official stamp of which teams are the cream of the league’s crop.  Christmas Day is reserved for superstars and contending franchises.  In the three-point era of the NBA since 1979, the Chicago Bulls have earned 15 Christmas Day games.

The definition and optics of a title contender are subjective, even more so in the 2020’s era of NBA parity.  

What is not subjective is the NBA booking your franchise on Christmas Day, and if Bulls lead front-office executive Bryson Graham’s ultimate goal for the Bulls is to graduate from rebuild to rebooting the franchise into a contender again, he also needs to build a roster that returns the Bulls to the NBA marquee showcase day of the entire season, Christmas Day.

Bulls memories of Christmas past

In an outlier appearance in the midst of the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics' dominance of the 1980s, the Bulls earned a Christmas Day matchup in 1986 that would foreshadow a tense 1990s rivalry when the Bulls traveled to Madison Square Garden to face the New York Knicks.

Headlining the matchup were up-and-coming superstars in third-year Bulls guard Michael Jordan and second-year Knicks center Patrick Ewing.  Future dynasty Bulls supporting cast members center Bill Cartwright, famously acquired by the Bulls by trading forward Charles Oakley,  and guard Trent Tucker were also suited up as opponents on this day.  

The Bulls suffered a last-second heart-breaking loss to the Knicks on an Ewing put-back basket, 86-85.  Despite the loss, Michael Jordan had an on-brand game of 30 points, six steals, five assists, and two blocks.

After a three-season hiatus, the Bulls returned to the NBA’s Christmas Day slate again in 1990 with a blockbuster home game against the archrival Detroit Pistons.

The Bulls earned a tone-setting victory over the Pistons and famously would see their foes again in the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals, handing the Pistons a four-game sweep that catapulted the Bulls to their first NBA Finals appearance against the Los Angeles Lakers and the franchise’s first NBA championship.  

Securing their first title ushered in the Bulls’ 1990s dynasty that included a dynastic run of Christmas Day games in 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, and 1997.

Bulls Christmas Day billing 2.0

Another protracted hiatus from Bulls Christmas Day games persisted for 13 years until the franchise returned to the NBA holiday marquee schedule in 2010, as the Bulls entered a new era of elite competition with guard Derrick Rose squarely planted as the face of the franchise.  

The Bulls' 2011 Christmas Day game on the road against Kobe Bryant’s Los Angeles Lakers proved to be a thriller as the Bulls pulled off a huge clutch victory in a manner fitting a Tom Thibodeau-coached team by blocking the Lakers' final shot attempt by Bryant, final score 88-87 Bulls.

The Bulls went on to play five more Christmas Day games in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016 as the franchise focal point transitioned from Rose to forward Jimmy Butler.

The goal for Graham, Splitter, and Caleb Wilson

The highest historical heights of the Bulls' competitive basketball have included a Christmas Day game.  It is incumbent on the Bulls franchise braintrust of Graham, head coach Tiago Splitter, and the prospective future face of the franchise, Caleb Wilson, to collectively lead the Bulls back to greatness, as evidenced by playing basketball on Christmas Day.

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