The Chicago Bulls are one of the most historical franchises in the NBA. They've had legendary players suit up for them, including arguably the greatest player the league has ever seen.
They've also had arguably the greatest coach of all-time in Phil Jackson and have won the fourth-most championships in league history, behind only the Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics, and Golden State Warriors. But it hasn't always worked out, as. they've had several players give them the middle finger.
Let's take a look at 12 people who disrespected the franchise on their way out the door.
12. CJ Watson
CJ Watson joined the Chicago Bulls at the same time as Tom Thibodeau, providing Chicago with a reserve guard who was a proven scorer and secondary playmaker. Watson had averaged right around 10 points and three assists in each of the previous two seasons for the Golden State Warriors and made 40 percent of his threes in 2008-09 (albeit on low volume).
Watson's scoring efficiency was below average, although he became a solid outside shooter, making 39 percent of his threes in each of his two seasons with the Bulls. In his first season, he didn't contribute much, as he played just 13.3 minutes and had a small role.
In fact, Watson didn't even play meaningful minutes in the Bulls' 2011 postseason run, as he played just 8.5 minutes.
However, Watson's role increased immensely by his second season, due to unfortunate injuries to Derrick Rose. Watson started 25 games for Tom Thibodeau and averaged 9.7 points and 4.1 assists, to the tune of 23.7 minutes.
This was a problem for the Bulls in the postseason, as he was easily one of Chicago's worst players in their opening round series against the Philadelphia 76ers. Watson averaged 7.3 points, 5.5 assists, 24.1 percent from the field and 25 percent from deep.
Yeah, he was that bad.
And to make matters worse, he was God-awful in Game 6, going 2-for-11 from the field and 1-of-4 from deep. In addition, he avoided taking the game-sealing free throws (despite being a good free throw shooter) and passed the ball to Omer Asik, leaving him to close the game out at the line, which worked out about as expected.
In spite of that measly performance, he pushed back against those who scrutinized him, after leaving Chicago and joining another Eastern Conference foe in the offseason.
“I thought I kind of got mistreated, but it is what it is."
Watson continued.
“The season ended how it ended. I wasn’t sorry about that,” said Watson who scored three points in Brooklyn’s 83-82 loss to Chicago on Saturday night. “I knew I could do better. It was a critical mistake maybe at the time, but I don’t think it was.”
Watson wasn't cheered upon his return to Chicago, as expected.