NBA: Chicago Bulls underrated guards
The Chicago Bulls are a franchise that have raised and manifested phenomenal players over the years. The Bulls is a team which won 8 championship titles in a span of only 9 years. In the 90’s Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippin and Dennis Rodman dominated the NBA stage. However there were other talented players on the bench as well during and before Chicago’s era, but history sadly forgot to credit them. Just like a human body cannot function without its backbone, a team without backup players cannot function either.
Here is a list of one of the most talented point guard lot that came to the Bulls and without whom the team would have just been another team with no legacy.
Norm Van Lier stood at only 6’1” yet subjugated his opponents with his marvellous defensive skills. He was highly respected as a point guard and in the span of ten-years with the Bulls he achieved various awards. He went on to the NBA All-Star team thrice once in 1974, then 1976 and 1977. His other accolades included him making to the All-Defensive first team 3 times and All-Defensive second team 5 times. His modest stature really kept him under the spot light for a long time and he also made it to the All-NBA second team in 1974. Norm retired in 1979 with 8,770 points, 3,596 rebounds and 5,217 assists.
Jerry Sloan came to the Chicago Bulls in 1966 and it did not take long for the 6’5 guard to become an All-Star. Sloan was the first Bulls player to have his jersey retired, and is currently ranked as the fourth all-time scorer on the Chicago Bulls players achievement list. Sloan was also recognized as a great defence player. He made it to the NBA All-Star team 2 times and the NBA All-Defensive Team 4 times. Jerry retired with a career score of 10,571 points, 5,614 rebounds and 1,925 assists; he was inducted in to the Hall-of-Fame last year. He currently coaches the Utah Jazz as their head coach.
Reggie Theus was the highlight of the Chicago Bulls before Michael Jordan came to the team. Although Reggie does not have many career highlights or achievements he was certainly the highest scorer in his rookie year with the Bulls averaging 16.3 points per game. He served the bulls from 1978 to 1984 until he was traded to the Kansas City Kings who are known as the Sacramento Kings now. He made it to the NBA-All Star team twice and retired with a total score of 19,015 points, 3,349 rebounds and 6,453 assists.
Guy Rodgers was one of the most respected players of his time. He had the honour to play against Wilt Chamberlain in a game in which he scored 100 points. Rodgers was a player with a vision, he was one of the most unselfish players and has a record of 20 assists in a game. He only played for the Bulls for three-years but was really successful in that time frame. Guy made it to the All-Star team twice with the franchise once in 1966 and the second time in 1967. Rodgers retired with the record of 908 assists in a season followed by 10,415 points, 3,791 rebounds and 6,917 assists.
John Paxson is a two-time academic All-American; he graduated from Notre Dame in 83’ with a degree in Business Administration being the first basketball player in Notre Dame’s history. Paxson played in Michael Jordan’s era, and took the winning shot in 1993 NBA finals with only 3.9 seconds left. He is known best for his clutch three point shooting skills. He won three championships all together with the Chicago Bulls from 1991 to 1993. The astounding three point shooter retired with 5,560 points, 906 rebounds and 2,758 assists.
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