The ‘26-’27 Bulls roster’s toughest NBA competition must live in their practices

Thursday, a social media clip of CHSN’s Ruthie Polinsky making an appearance on 104.3 The Score’s Mully and Haugh radio show was published.  In the clip, Polinsky opined on the potential impact of Caleb Wilson’s rookie Bulls season on the upcoming third-season of Bulls forward Matas Buzelis.

Polinsky’s comments in the segment about Buzelis meandered between opinions on Bulls basketball marketing and on-court Bulls basketball role hierarchy as it relates to both Wilson and Buzelis’ 2026-27 NBA season outlook.  

Within a day on Friday, both Buzelis and Wilson published their own social media reactions to the Mully and Haugh show clip featuring Polinsky.

Between Polinsky, Buzelis, and Wilson’s opinions that circulated on social media over the span of Thursday and Friday, a modest debate emerged over the outside perception of who will be the face of the Bulls franchise, contrasted against the inside-Bulls locker room point-of-view of the team being singularly unified around one goal.

Polinsky’s opinion on Buzelis and Wilson may ruffle the feathers of Bulls players and fans alike; however, there is a legitimate basketball implication to extract from her opinion, and it is that the Bulls should be engaged in the fiercest NBA competition with their teammates in team practices when the 2026-27 NBA season tips off in October.

Rebuilding is not about the game, it’s practice

With the turnover of both Bulls front office leadership and head coach: out Arturas Karnisovas, in Bryson Graham, along with Tiago Splitter replacing Billy Donovan, a new organizational mantra has emerged within the Bulls, centered on culture, habits, teaching, and practice.

Another more peculiar mantra in the midst of a listless stretch of the Bulls' 2025-26 NBA season emerged, as captured by The Athletic's Joel Lorenzi, emphasizing how much players in the locker room cared for each other. 

Former Bulls head coach Billy Donovan brought levels to the mantra by differentiating the need for his players to progress from liking each other to loving each other.

Guard Josh Giddey added his own refrain to Donovan's mantra.

There’s no argument on the virtues of teammates having camaraderie amongst each other, and at the same time, the job of an NBA basketball player is literal competition 24-7.  Competition requires conflict.

Therefore, the players on the 2026-27 edition of the Chicago Bulls need to be willing to compete with each other at the highest levels of the game, more than they care about each other.

The presence of constructive conflict towards common goals should be evidence of how much the Bulls locker room cares about each other.

The Bulls haven’t been nationally relevant since Lonzo Ball’s 35-game stretch of fueling a top-10 NBA offense during the 2021-22 NBA season.  The Bulls haven’t had a bona fide superstar player since Jimmy Butler, and the Bulls haven’t had a legitimate title contender since Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, Luol Deng, and Taj Gibson set competitive standards for the franchise in daily Bulls practices, according to Butler.

Bulls fans don’t expect division and jealousy to exist between Buzelis, Wilson, or Josh Giddey.  What Bulls fans would appreciate instead is to know the players are willing to set the right tone and cook each other in practice while sparing no hurt feelings in the name of accountability and winning.  

This is the sort of conflict that fueled the six Bulls championship banners that hang in the United Center and fueled the Bulls' greatness in the first half of the 2010's.

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