NEWSLETTER
All you need to do is look at DeMar DeRozan’s Basketball-Reference page to know he and the Chicago Bulls were a match made in heaven.
Many questioned whether or not the All-Star forward made sense on such an unproven roster, and DeRozan provided an answer immediately. Not only did his veteran experience help vault the franchise back into the postseason for the first time in five years, but he strung together arguably the best individual season of his 13-year-long career.
DeRozan, 32, averaged a career-high 27.9 points per game on his second-best shooting performance ever from the field (50.4). He finished 2nd in total points scored in the NBA behind only Trae Young, and he surpassed Giannis Antetokounmpo by 84 total points to finish as the top 4th-quarter scorer.
From start to finish, DeRozan’s 2021-22 campaign was an absolute pleasure to watch. And, according to the man himself, he couldn’t have been happier to do it in Chicago.
“It’s amazing, I’m not even going to lie to you,” DeRozan told former teammate Rudy Gay on the Speakeasy podcast by Bleav. “It was a lot of moments this year where it was completely, like, surreal. There’s times you’re out there, you’re at the free-throw line, and you’re getting MVP chants. That’s exactly the same arena Michael Jordan was in …
It’s just crazy to be in that same atmosphere, walking those same walls that Michael Jordan built and everything. It was definitely dope.”
It’s remarkably refreshing to hear someone this excited about wearing a Chicago Bulls jersey. And the fact it’s coming from an All-Star-caliber talent who willingly chose to join the franchise makes it feel that much better.
We all know the Bulls have never been viewed as the most attractive free-agent destination. However, the mere decision of a respected player like DeRozan to ink a deal with the organization could have a serious domino effect, and adding in the on-court results that followed has that feeling even more true.
We’ll see what happens this summer, but I have to imagine the Bulls will continue to have legitimate interest from players around the league, especially if DeRozan keeps making life in Chicago sound this welcoming!
“For the first time in my career to be the oldest player on the team, it was new for me, but it all honesty those guys made it simple,” DeRozan said. “Lonzo, Zach, all those guys on the team were incredibly great teammates. They made the job easy.”
Make sure to catch the complete DeRozan interview through the link below.
Great time chopping it up with my boy @DeMar_DeRozan on my latest episode of 'Speakeasy' on @BleavNetwork.
Catch the full show here: https://t.co/xSTP1W2Z9n
— Rudy Gay (@RudyGay) May 19, 2022
