The Chicago Bulls have been around since 1966. Leading up to the 90s and outside of the 90s, the Bulls have skated by. The team’s greatest stretch of success came during the 90s. While the Bulls won divisional titles in 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, and 1998, the only other divisional titles that did not come from this decade came in 1975, 2011, and 2012. The team won six championships during this period, which included two different three-peats.
- GOAT Of The Franchise – Michael Jordan
- Rookie Of The Franchise – Michael Jordan
- Offensive Player Of The Franchise – Michael Jordan
- Defensive Player Of The Franchise – Michael Jordan
- Coach Of The Franchise – Phil Jackson
- Fan Favorite – Michael Jordan
- Next
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- Portland Trail Blazers Franchise Awards: Clyde Drexler Is The Trail Blazers’ GOAT, Damian Lillard Is The Fan Favorite
- Utah Jazz Franchise Awards: Karl Malone Is The Real Jazz GOAT
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Looking back in time, the team owns four retired players’ numbers. Jerry Sloan, Bob Love, and Scottie Pippen are three of those players, while others like Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah are going to be beloved for years despite not seeing their jerseys hang in the rafters. The other number hanging in the air is the greatest player of all time. When you are the GOAT, it means you were probably the best at what you did.
That is exactly what Michael Jordan did, which is why it should not surprise anyone that he swept the Bulls player’s franchise awards.
GOAT Of The Franchise – Michael Jordan
A lot of what we have to discuss about Michael Jordan might sound repetitive but it’s the truth. This is the man that went 6-0 in the NBA Finals. He battled with the great Larry Bird and the Celtics and the dynasty Pistons. He took his lumps and then dominated for a decade. Had he not lost two years to retiring early, he might have eight championships to his name. During that time, he won six Finals MVPs. He is one of the ultimate champions.
When it comes to the Bulls, he owns 27 franchise career records according to Basketball Reference. Among the eye-popping stats, Jordan is the career leader in points (29,277), rebounds (5,836), assists (5,012), and steals (2,306). He owns more than 200 win shares with the team. When it comes to Jordan, he is not just the greatest Bulls player in team history, but the greatest player in all of the NBA.
Rookie Of The Franchise – Michael Jordan
Three players have won Rookie of the Year. Elton Brand won the award in 2000 when he averaged 20.1 points, 10.0 rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game. Derrick Rose won the award in 2009 after being drafted as the No. 1 overall pick in 2008. Rose averaged 16.8 points, 3.9 rebounds, 6.3 assists, and 0.8 steals per game. When it comes to the best overall rookie season, that goes to Jordan.
After getting drafted with the No. 3 overall pick in 1984, Jordan averaged 28.2 points, 6.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 2.4 steals, and 0.8 blocks per game. Jordan played in all 82 games that season. There were only two players that received votes for ROY that season. Jordan received 57.5 votes, while 1984 No. 1 overall pick Hakeem Olajuwon received 20.5 votes.
Offensive Player Of The Franchise – Michael Jordan
The 10-time All-NBA First Team selection was a scoring machine. That is why he won 10 scoring titles during his time with the Bulls. From 1987 to 1993, Jordan won the scoring title. After a brief retirement stint, he won the scoring title from 1996 to 1998. Jordan was just short of scoring 30,000 career points for his career, but he owns the NBA record for points per game for an NBA career with 30.1.
Michael Jordan’s 31.5 points per game is a franchise record and by a lot as the next player on the leaderboard is Zach LaVine with 24.4 points per game. One has to also factor in the usage percentage of Jordan, who also owns the career record with 33.5%. Jordan’s 145.8 offensive win shares, offensive box plus/minus (7.8), and player efficiency rating (29.1) are also Bulls franchise records. In comparison to the rest of the league, Jordan ranks fifth in points scored and the only two players to have passed him since 2003 are Kobe Bryant and LeBron James.
Defensive Player Of The Franchise – Michael Jordan
Two players have won a Defensive Player of the Year Award. In 2014, Joakim Noah received 100 first-place votes to take the DPOY. For that season, he averaged 12.6 points, 11.3 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 1.2 steals, and 1.5 blocks. Noah was often regarded as the backbone of the defense during his playing days, but he was not the best defensive player in team history. While Jordan was scoring more than the rest of the league, he was also playing standout defense too.
Jordan won the DPOY in 1988 after averaging 35.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 3.2 steals, and 1.6 blocks. His offensive stats were off the charts, but look at how exemplary his defensive stats were with it. In Jordan’s career, he made the All-Defensive First Team nine times, including six times between 1988 to 1993 and then three more times between 1996 to 1998. He led the league in steals in 1988, 1990, and 1993. With the Bulls, his 58.7 defensive win shares are a team record, as are his 2.5 steals per game for his career.
Coach Of The Franchise – Phil Jackson
Let’s get to the basics. Jackson owns the record for coaching wins with the Bulls with a 545-193 record. That includes making the playoffs in all nine seasons as the coach and all six championships. He is the only coach in the history of the organization to lead the team to the NBA Finals. Jackson owns a 111-41 record in the playoffs, which is a winning percentage of 73.0%
Can you think of any other coach that would have been able to handle the egos that this Bulls team had? Specifically, could any other team maneuver their way with Jordan and the relationships he had with his teammates? We saw how Scottie Pippen felt at times. Dennis Rodman was an enigma in his own right. Given all of the personalities, pressure, and attention, Jackson won over 70% of his games and completed two different three-peats as the coach. Jackson isn’t just the greatest coach in Bulls’ history, but he is right up there among the best in NBA history.
Fan Favorite – Michael Jordan
It’s going to be 20 years this spring since Jordan suited up for an NBA team. Among players that have been gone for nearly two decades, is there another player that remains a hot topic in the league as much as Jordan? From a league-wise standpoint, Jordan is often talked about because he is regarded as the greatest player of all time. His resume is one used as a barometer when comparing greatness to players like LeBron James and Kobe Bryant.
At the United Center, the opening video before the introduction of starting lineups features clips from the past. The iconic dunks of Jordan and his game-winning shot in the Finals are still used in hype videos. The Bulls are due for another superstar to carry the team to the upper tier of greatness again. For now, the nostalgic feeling of Jordan remains and will continue forever.
