![]() Along with center Dave Corzine, these players would be key contributors besides Jordan for the next couple of years. They acquired point guard John Paxson and on the day of the draft, traded with the Cavaliers for the rights to power forward Charles Oakley. The following off-season, the Bulls knew they needed to add something more to their team to help Jordan. ![]() After such a dominant season, he was rewarded with an All-NBA Second Team selection and the NBA Rookie of the Year Award. Jordan set franchise records during his rookie campaign for scoring and steals and led the Bulls back to the playoffs, where they would lose in four games to the Milwaukee Bucks. The Bulls, now under new ownership with Jerry Reinsdorf and a new general manager in Jerry Krause, started to build a team around Jordan. The Rockets selected future Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon, the Blazers selected Sam Bowie and the Bulls decided on a shooting guard out of North Carolina named Michael Jordan. ![]() In the summer of 1984, the Bulls had the third pick of the 1984 NBA draft, after the Houston Rockets and Portland Trail Blazers. The Bulls seriously declined after William’s departure, winning only 24 games after their 1975 season, and Motta was fired and replaced by new general manager Ed Badger. After four 50-win seasons, Williams decided to return to Philadelphia and Motta decided to take over as the new general manager. The team would make the conference finals in 1975 but lost 4-3 to the eventual NBA champion Golden State Warriors. In 1972, the Bulls set a franchise record for wins in a single season, when they went 57-25.ĭuring the 1970s, the Bulls relied on great players such as Sloan, forwards Bob Love and Walker, point guard Van Lier and centers Clifford Ray and Tom Boerwinkle. The Bulls under Williams and head coach Dick Motta made four straight playoffs appearances and increased attendance at home games to over 10,000 per game. Williams created tons of new promotions for the team, including a notable one, mascot Benny the Bull. Williams completely revamped the Bulls roster, acquiring Chet Walker from his old team in exchange for Jim Washington and drafting Norm Van Lier – who was traded to the Cincinnati Royals and didn’t actually join the team until 1971. Williams was formerly the Philadelphia 76ers’ business manager who helped the team become third in the league in attendance with his promotions the previous year. Seeing as he could not figure out a way to draw crowds, Klein dropped out of his general manager position and hired a man named Pat Williams. After only four seasons, fan interest was starting to diminish with some home games drawing less than 1,000 people. In their first season, the Bulls played at the International Amphitheatre before moving to the historic Chicago Stadium. The Bulls qualified for the playoffs, the only NBA team to do so in their inaugural season. The Bulls were coached by native Chicagoan and former NBA star Johnny “Red” Kerr, and the team was led by former NBA assists leader Guy Rodgers, guard Jerry Sloan, and forward Bob Boozer. ![]() Impressively, this was the best record to ever be posted by an expansion team in the NBA. The team’s first year would be the 1966-67 season, where they posted a 33-48 record. The newly founded Bulls were then allowed to acquire players from already established teams in the league for the upcoming season. That same year, the NBA of course had an expansion draft. He served as both the president of the team and general manager for the team’s first few years of existence. The founder of the Bulls, Dick Klein, has been the only owner of the Bulls to play professional basketball. The Zephyrs actually are now the NBA’s Washington Wizards. The Chicago Bulls were actually the third NBA franchise in the city, after the Chicago Stags and Chicago Zephyrs, who existed from 63, respectively. The Bulls started out on January 16, 1966, when Chicago was granted an NBA franchise. ![]()
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