The Chicago Bulls just can’t stop living in the past.
Tuesday afternoon, the franchise officially announced an inaugural class for a new Ring of Honor, which is made up of 13 individuals. It includes Artis Gilmore, Phil Jackson, Michael Jordan, Johnny “Red” Kerr, Dick Klein, Jerry Krause, Toni Kukoc, Bob Love, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, Jerry Sloan, Chet Walker, Tex Winter, and the 1995-96 team as a whole.
Before the Ring of Honor, the Bulls had six non-Bill Russell names retired: Sloan, Love, Jordan, Pippen, Jackson, and Krause.
The list is comprised almost exclusively of the franchise’s ABA players and members of the Jordan Dynasty. Gilmore, Winter, Jackson, Krause, Kukoc, Pippen, and Rodman all had some crossover during Jordan’s time. The honoring of the 1995-1996 team, which went 72-10 and won the 1996 NBA Championship, will bring an additional 21 names to the fold. [Ed. note: How much did the last guys on the bench actually contribute?]
This continues the Bulls’ celebration of the Jordan era, which is entering its 25th year. Who could blame them? There is no better way to hide the pain of continued mediocrity than to continue waxing nostalgic about the years the franchise was actually good.
Since the Jordan era ended in 1998, the Bulls have won five playoff series (not counting their 2022 play-in victory) and have made the Eastern Conference Finals just once. Since Phil Jackson left for Los Angeles, Chicago has cycled through eight head coaches, only one lasting more than four years.
Every attempted talent acquisition has come and gone. Chicago continually misses on draft picks. Any home-grown talent they do get leaves because the franchise is directionless – just ask Jimmy Butler. The Bulls then make moves for veteran stars, continue to not win, and then act shocked when they ask out. The only meaningful star they’ve had post-Jordan is Derrick Rose, whose 2011 MVP award was less about Rose and more a protest vote against LeBron James.
It’s fitting that Chicago finally honors these more-than-worthy players. The Bulls currently exist for one purpose: To chronicle and memorialize one of the greatest eras of basketball – and sports – history. But that’s what we have The Last Dance for. We don’t need a $4.6 billion-dollar franchise to do what a 10-part documentary and a handful of Wikipedia articles can already handle.
Hopefully, the Ring of Honor puts the Jordan fanaticism to bed. Until they do, the Chicago Bulls are not a legitimate NBA franchise. They’re a museum.
Original source here
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