When I saw the news that the Chicago Bulls had hired Billy Donovan as their head coach I was shocked.

Over my decades as a Bulls fan I’ve been made jaded by some of the actions and inactions of the organization.

When the team announced the hiring of Artūras Karnišovas as the executive vice president of basketball operations I should have taken that as a sign that the Bulls haver entered a new era. Or, perhaps, my perception of the Bulls history of hiring practices is just wrong.

Whatever. I’m not going to revisit that history and try to affix a grade. I’ll leave that to better minds than mine. Instead I want to look back at my personal experiences with the Bulls when they made my top favorite five acquisitions.

Number one of course is easy.

1. Bulls Draft Michael Jordan

I’ll take you back to that time. The Bulls were of course awful. They had just finished their third consecutive sub .500 season.

I had seen Michael Jordan play a handful of college games including the national championship game when he nailed the game winning shot for Dean Smith’s North Carolina Tar Heels.

I was a big Doctor J, Julius Erving, fan, and had read all of the reports that Jordan had the high-flying, dunk skills of the 76ers superstar.

So, I crowded into the Hyatt Regency ballroom in mid-June 1984 to watch the draft on a big screen with hundreds of other Bulls fans at a view party the team hosted. (Yes, the draft was held during the day back then.)

Everyone knew that the Houston Rockets were going to select center Hakeem Abdul Olajuwon. There was no contesting that pick. It made total sense at the time with the NBA being a league that was all about the big man.

The concern was that the Portland Trail Blazers would bypass another big man, Sam Bowie, because of concerns regarding his injury-filled college career at Kentucky.

But, Portland had already drafted a shooting guard the year before, and a very good one, in Clyde Drexler.

So, the Blazer did choose Bowie.

But, were the Bulls going to trade their pick and not pick the next Dr. J?

The Bulls general manager at the time, Rod Thorn, was said to be fielding offers. In fact, he confirmed those rumors recently to ESPN’s David Kaplan.

Philadelphia had made a strong offer for Michael. Dallas had made a strong offer for Michael. There were a couple of other teams that had inquired about the pick, their offers weren’t as good as those two but yeah, there were people who were certainly interested in Michael.

Rod Thorn, Bulls general manager from 1975 to 1985

When the announcement came, the ballroom at the Hyatt erupted! I will never forget the moment and when I first watched Michael play at the old Chicago Stadium in his rookie year. Wow!

2. Bulls Sign Artis Gilmore

In the early 1970s, I began to hear about the new Wilt Chamberlain. He played college at Jacksonville University and his name was Artis Gilmore.

When he was done with his college career he averaged 24.3 points per game and 22.7 rebounds. He was one of only five college players in history to average at least 20 points and 20 rebounds.

The anticipation by basketball fans was to see Gilmore play against veteran Chamberlain and the younger superstar big man, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Gilmore was drafted by the Bulls, but they and the rest of the NBA, knew that he was headed to the American Basketball Association to play for the Kentucky Colonels. Nonetheless the Bulls smartly wanted negotiation rights in the event the ABA folded.

As expected, Gilmore dominated in the ABA. He became a two-time MVP by doing it all: scoring, blocking shots, playmaking… you name it.

Then the moment came. The ABA disbanded in 1976 and Gilmore became a Bull. While he did not have the same level of success in the NBA that he did in the ABA he was still a stud and the excitement over his arrival was worth it.

3. Derrick Rose Drafted First Overall

This acquisition is probably number one on the list of most people who did not experience the Jordan and Gilmore eras… and maybe even some who did.

Rose was a Chicago high school phenom at Simeon Career Academy. In fact, college basketball coaches were watching his games when he was a member of the freshman and JV team (Simeon coach Bob Hembric had a rule not to play freshman on the varsity team).

Rose went to college at Memphis to play under John Calipari and it was obvious that he was headed to the NBA after his freshman year and he would be the league’s top draft pick.

The Bulls, though, had only a a 1.7 percent chance of getting the overall first pick of the 2008 draft. They had to jump from ninth to first.  

So, I did not even bother to watch the lottery picks. But, when I heard what happened… my reaction to the announcement was a gazillion times more than whoever this guy from the Bulls organization is..

Again, the excitement was well worth it.

In fact, Rose had a better career than Gilmore!

4. Artūras Karnišovas/Billy Donovan Arrival

The arrival of these two men to lead the Bulls tells me we are done effin’ around. The franchise might not see an immediate turnaround, although I’m not ruling that out. The Bulls have some good young talent and in the Eastern Conference almost anything is possible.

For more on why I’m stoked check out this 15 minute podcast from Mark Schanowski and David Schuster: Click Here

5. The Arrival of Toni Kukoč

I could write 5,000 words on Toni Kukoč… make it 10,000. I became enamored with the thought of Toni, Jordan and Scottie Pippen on the court together as soon as I learned about the guy who was nicknamed “The White Magic” for his ball handling and passing skills.

I love players like Magic Johnson, Pete Maravich and other players who make spectacular passes and look to set-up others before scoring.

Then things got complicated when the Bulls’ two superstars openly showed their disdain for general manager Jerry Krause’s pet project. Signing Kukoč meant he’d become the second highest paid player on the team moving ahead of Pippen.

The Bulls stubbornly refused to re-work Pippen’s deal after, reportedly, warning him that the long-term contract he wanted would be well below market value after a season or two. Pip wanted security and would very soon realize he made a mistake and hated that management wouldn’t tear up the deal and pay him his true value.

Nonetheless, I was looking everywhere for video, or any kind of info, on Kukoč… and when I found it… I loved it.

When Kukoč finally arrived my excitement was tempered because weeks later Michael Jordan announced his retirement.

Kukoč did not make the splash I had hoped but he was far from disappointing. In fact, in his rookie year, he made the NBA All-Rookie Second Team and scored 10.9 points per game coming off the bench. He hit several game-winning shots, too.

Kukoč would of course be teamed with Jordan later and win three rings.

Those are my type five moments. What are yours?