Hey Bulls fans! Hope y'all enjoyed All Star weekend. What an amazing experience for our great sports town. Chicago shined bright as the host city of one of the greatest annual events in sports for the first time in 32 years. Who knows when it will be back again, but I think it’s safe to say it shouldn’t take another 32 years. Chicago and the NBA knocked it out of the park.
Here are my favorite things from All Star weekend. It’s the Pecking Order.
1. The Bulls got a much-needed break
The Bulls entered the break on a six-game losing streak with an overall record of 19-36. Just as close to the worst record in the Eastern Conference as they were to the 8th seed. Stuck between bad and terrible.
Not only was this team in need of a breather, their depleted roster got an extra week to recover. The latest update indicates that Kris Dunn’s season could very well be over, but some key pieces appear to be nearing a return. Namely, Wendell Carter Jr. and Otto Porter Jr. Maybe even Lauri Markkanen. In his trade deadline session with the media, John Paxson indicated that some of these pieces are targeting returns in late February or early March to continue evaluating what the roster has and what it needs.
While losing out is probably in the team’s best interest for the sake of the draft lottery, there might be some usefulness in getting foundation pieces like Wendell and Lauri more run. Find some positive signs to build on and some things to work on in the offseason. Heck, we all know the Bulls are drafting seventh again anyway.
The fans needed this break, too. There’s no denying it’s been a frustrating season for us fans. Kudos to all of you who are riding this out with us. I’m sure you enjoyed the break as well.
NBA
2. The Kobe tributes
There were a lot of them mixed into the weekend’s festivities, and they were all great. From Adam Silver’s announcement that the All Star game’s MVP award will now bear Kobe’s name, to the players wearing jersey numbers 24 (for Kobe) and 2 (for his daughter Gianna) and many more. Even watching a viral video of Dwyane Wade and Allen Iverson embrace following a Kobe remembrance moment courtside felt like a tribute itself.
Without question, though, Jennifer Hudson’s performance before the game Sunday night was THE moment. A Chicago native, Oscar-winning singer performing Donny Hathaway’s “For All We Know (We May Meet Again)” in front of a slideshow of Kobe and Gigi. The only way to describe it – her vocal performance and the emotion attached to the moment – was powerful. So incredibly powerful.
Honorable mention to Common, whose pregame performance honoring the great hoops city of Chicago was also phenomenal. And his players intros? *Chef kiss*
3. The Elam Ending
Speaking of the Kobe tributes, the NBA adopting the “Elam Ending” for the All Star game turned out to be a great move. A rule that removed the clock for the fourth quarter and replaced it with a target score – by adding 24 to the winning team’s point total after 3 quarters – was thought by many to be too complicated. I griped about it myself. “If you want to honor Kobe’s memory, actually compete in the game. Play hard. Try to win.”
Turns out that’s exactly what this rule change did. We saw some of the most competitive basketball in an All Star game in years during that fourth quarter. People played defense! Offenses ran plays! It was awesome. Good job, NBA.
4. The Bulls are preparing for change
While the rich basketball history of Chicago shined bright last weekend, the Bulls were hit by their own spotlight.
Other than Zach LaVine’s early exit from the 3-Point Contest, the Bulls had no representation during the weekend. No participants in the game Sunday night, nor the Rising Stars game on Friday. Not ideal for a team three years into a rebuild. And this fact was not lost on the national media, including retired NBA stars, who wondered aloud how things have gotten this bad for such an iconic franchise.
Obviously, we all wish the Bulls were more competitive when the entire NBA world came to visit Chicago. But perhaps this needed to happen.
Perhaps change is finally on the way, as our very own K.C. Johnson, among others, reported that the Bulls used All Star weekend to expand their search for a new voice in their front office.
5. Bulls Outsiders meet Thibs
I had to save the best for last. As part of the weekend’s festivities, we did a special episode of Outsiders from Highline in River North. (Shout-out to the Bulls fans who came to hang out with us, and special shout-outs to Sarah Kustok and Tim Hardaway for being on our show. WHAT!)
Thibs made an appearance on Tom Haberstroh’s show from Highline before ours. As he was being escorted from the set to the back of the bar, I looked at John and Big Dave. “We MUST get this pic. Let’s go.” The three of us proceeded to stalk two paces behind Thibs and our wonderful NBCSC booker Danni Wysocki, who is always crushing it wrangling guests and employees at live events.
When Thibs stops, I tap him on the shoulder. “Hey Thibs, I’m Matt Peck, one of the Bulls Outsiders. These are my co-stars Big Dave and John. We’re huge fans. Would you mind taking a quick picture?”
The voice of an angel replied with, “Hey, thanks! Of course.”
It took all my will power to not ask him to yell “IIIIIICE!” in my face or tell me to “Do. My. Job.”
But we met a Bulls legend. And we got the pic. Weekend made.
Thanks for reading. See red, be good.
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