I would like to personally apologize to all the Cubs fans out there for the loss yesterday.
Clearly, my presence at Saturday’s game brought the luck needed to beat the Cincinnati Reds. In fact, not only did the Cubbies win, but I also got to keep my job! Brett told me beforehand that my future at Bleacher Nation road entirely on whether or not the Cubs won that day. Harsh, I know. But fair.
Nevertheless, I’ll have to make an effort to be at every Cubs-Reds game in the future – to prevent any additional losses. But for now, let the basketball content commence!
The NBA Finals are set. In a shocking turn of events, the Golden State Warriors made it out of the western conference, while in the east, the ever-so-predictable Toronto Raptors secured their spot to the championship series on Saturday. Okay, sarcasm aside, this has been one heck of a ride for the Raptors. We can all say that the Kawhi Leonard trade (even if it is for only one season) has been completely worth it, getting that franchise to the finals for the first time in its 24-year history. But, when it really comes down to who put together the best Raptors team ever, it was clearly the Chicago Bulls.
Okay, sorry, that’s sarcasm again. However, the Bulls really do tie into quite a bit of the storyline for the Raptors 2018-19 season journey. Toronto’s head coach Nick Nurse, who took over the team after the firing of current Pistons head coach Dwane Casey, had a four-year history within Bulls organization. From 2007-11 he was the head coach of the Bulls D-League affiliate team, the Iowa Energy. After winning two championships during his time in the D-league, Nurse was hired as an assistant in Toronto. Then, once officially being promoted to head coach, Nurse brought on Adrian Griffin as a new assistant. Technically, Griffin had three separate stints in Chicago – two as a member of the roster and one as a member of Tom Thibodeau’s staff (2010-2015).
If you want to read even more about all of this, K.C. Johnson (who beat me to the tweet about this during the weekend!) wrote a great, quick piece mapping out all of Chicago’s connections with the NBA Finals. In case you forgot, the Warriors have at least one big connection too *cough* Steve Kerr *cough.*
Anyway, here is a look at your 2020 NBA Finals MVP…
Reminder: Bulls lead assistant head coach Pete Myers announced at the end of last week that he would be stepping away from the team due to personal reasons. In total, he has spent 13 years with the organization. It’s safe to say this was a relatively unexpected move, and now the Bulls will head into the offseason with an assistant coach vacancy to fill. Johnson with the Chicago Tribune talked a little bit more about his departure.
All you Bulls fans are powerful people. Plenty of Chicagoans have been backing an offseason free agent move that would bring Patrick Beverley into the United Center. The 30-year-old point guard is a Chicago-native that gathered heightened attention during the NBA playoffs when he played some hard-core defense on Kevin Durant. Also, I think Durant didn’t realize how much saying “he’s a Chicago kid… so those dudes play with a different kind of grit” would energize Bulls fans. If a player has Chicago blood, the city will defend him as much as they would deep dish pizza. Anyway, people have even made videos trying to influence the man to come to Chicago, something he has begun to acknowledge.
Also, for what it’s worth, David Kaplan, Will Perdue and the boys over at SportsTalk had an extensive conversation about the Bulls point guard situation. During it, Kaplan mentioned that Beverley “is not on their (Chicago’s) board.” Of course, free agency hasn’t even started, and we know a lot can change by June 30th.
Kris Dunn just can’t get his name out of the headlines. With the Bulls making it obvious that they’re looking for a point guard, Dunn has appeared to be left in a state of limbo. We have talked about his potential role, or lack thereof, several times already, but the Chicago Sun-Times’ Joe Cowley maps out how Dunn got to this point.
I’m adding this in here because we all deserve to watch LeBron look absolutely silly…
Elias Schuster is the Lead Chicago Bulls writer at Bleacher Nation. He started with BN full-time in 2019 immediately after graduating from the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign with a degree in Journalism (yes, he started with the Jim Boylen Era). Since joining, Elias has been the driving force behind Bulls and NBA content for both the site and social accounts. You can follow him on Twitter/X @Schuster_Elias.
On Sunday evening, the Blackhawks played the final home game of their 2023-24 season. They'll finish their regular season with road games in Vegas and LA on Tuesday and Thursday this week. The Bulls host an NBA play-in tournament game...
The Chicago Sky's rebuild is off to a strong start. After trading Kahleah Copper to the Phoenix Mercury and acquiring the No. 3 pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft, the Sky selected Kamilla Cardoso on Monday night. A reigning NCAA...
DeMar DeRozan is ready for Wednesday's Play-In Tournament matchup. The Chicago Bulls' veteran scorer took to Instagram to make his feelings about this week's postseason contest known. And if I'm the Atlanta Hawks, I'd be terrified. DeRozan shared a photo...
The NBA continued to grow in popularity during the 2023-24 regular season. The league announced on Monday that a total of 22,536,341 fans attended games this season, making a new regular-season high. Relatedly, they also broke records for average attendance...
The NBA postseason is officially here! It's not quite Playoff time, but this week we get six Play-In Tournament matchups to decide the final two NBA playoff teams. So we might as well take a closer look at the NBA...
To the presumed pleasure of the front office, the Chicago Bulls ended the 2023-24 regular season in competitive fashion! Did the outcome of the game matter? Not at all. Would it have made sense to prioritize extra rest for the...
A chaotic Sunday in the NBA is finally over. All 30 teams competed during the last day of the regular season, with many still jockeying for playoff seeding. Not only were seeds 2-8 still undetermined in the Eastern Conference, but...
The end to the Chicago Bulls' 2023-24 regular season felt more than fitting. Not only did the Bulls play in their 44th clutch game of the year and add to their league-leading total in clutch minutes, but they also added...
One more time! The Bulls and Knicks close out the regular season today at Madison Square Garden. https://twitter.com/chicagobulls/status/1779499283881840770 Game Info Chicago Bulls (39-42) at New York Knicks (49-32) – 12:00 p.m. CT on NBC Sports Chicago (TV) and 670 The Score (Radio)...
Happy final day of the regular season to all who celebrate! The Chicago Bulls tip-off at noon, so we're going to keep today's bullets short and sweet. The NBA is in store for quite a whacky Sunday. The majority of...
In one of the 15 exciting matchups on the MLB slate today, the San Diego Padres and the Milwaukee Brewers hit the field at American Family Field.Searching for MLB player prop bets for today's games? This article includes MLB player...
The Texas Rangers (9-8) are set to take on the Detroit Tigers (9-7) Tuesday at 1:10 PM ET, airing on MLB Network. The Rangers are listed as -123 favorites by bookmakers, while the underdog Tigers have +103 odds for the...
The Texas Rangers (9-8) visit the Detroit Tigers (9-7) at Comerica Park on Tuesday, beginning at 1:10 PM ET.This contest's pitching matchup is set, as the Rangers will send Jon Gray (0-1) to the mound, while Casey Mize will answer...
The Los Angeles Dodgers (11-8), led by Mookie Betts, host C.J. Abrams and the Washington Nationals (7-9) at 10:10 PM ET on Tuesday.The article below will provide you with everything you need to watch Los Angeles play Washington.When is Dodgers...
The New Orleans Pelicans (49-33) are only 1-point favorites as they attempt to stop a five-game home losing streak when they square off against the Los Angeles Lakers (47-35) on Tuesday, April 16, 2024 at Smoothie King Center. The matchup...
The Sacramento Kings (46-36) will look to De'Aaron Fox (eighth in the league scoring 26.6 points per game) when they attempt to defeat Stephen Curry (ninth in the NBA with 26.4 PPG) and the Golden State Warriors (46-36) on Tuesday,...
Brady Singer takes the ball for the Kansas City Royals (11-6) when they visit starting pitcher Jonathan Cannon and the Chicago White Sox (2-14) at 7:40 PM ET on Tuesday.The article below will provide you with everything you need to...
In a game where a rookie pitching prospect makes the best start of his career, a key set-up man has a bounceback performance after a rough start to his season, and a formerly dominant reliever toiling away in Triple-A comes...
Pete Alonso and the New York Mets (8-8) host Bryan Reynolds and the Pittsburgh Pirates (11-6) at 7:10 PM ET on Tuesday.Keep reading to find out all the details on how to watch New York take on Pittsburgh live.When is...
On Tuesday at 9:40 PM ET, Mitch Haniger and the Seattle Mariners (7-10) play Spencer Steer and the Cincinnati Reds (9-7) at T-Mobile Park.If you're trying to watch this game, keep reading for TV and streaming options for the Seattle-Cincinnati...
NEWSLETTER
