Considering the current state of the Chicago Bulls , with the franchise only getting past the second round of the playoffs once in the last 25 years, it is surprising that the city's basketball culture has been declining . This is a hard reality to accept for the Bulls fans, especially since not long ago, a guy named Michael Jordan led them to six championships, claiming the Finals MVP award on each occasion.
But as great as MJ was—most people still pick him as the GOAT— Derrick Rose , another franchise legend, thinks that had it not been for the Bulls organization and Chicag's basketball culture, MJ would've never reached that level of greatness.
MJ benefited from playing in Chicago
When Jordan entered the league in 1984, coach Kevin Loughery handed him the keys to the offense. The UNC product responded by averaging a team-high 28.2 points per contest en route to winning the Rookie of the Year award. His dominance continued when Doug Collins took over as the head coach in the 1986-87 campaign.
Mike led the league in scoring in all three years under Collins. Then, when Phil Jackson replaced Doug, and the organization finally put the right pieces around MJ, his individual greatness translated into wins. The rest is history.
But what if the Bulls didn't draft Jordan? D-Rose, the youngest MVP in NBA history, thinks his career would've been much different.
"MJ wouldn't be MJ if he played anywhere else but Chicago for his pro career. He would've been a great player anywhere else, but in Chicago, he became the Black Cat; he became MJ in Chicago, " Rose said . "Just off the strength of the culture that's in Chicago, and there's culture everywhere."
Related: Julius Erving believes no player is similar to him in the modern NBA: “I was a small forward, but I really played like a power forward”
The benefits of Chicago's NBA culture
According to Derrick, Chicago's strong basketball culture played a big part in pushing Michael to achieve more. D-Rose explained that the challenging nature of the fans motivated Jordan to strive to outdo himself, always looking to reach new levels of success.
"The basketball culture is just strong. The expectations of, like, alright, what are you going to do? I guarantee you he had people in his corner like you just went on vacation. They ain't going to let you win three more, " Derrick added. "I bet you can't. That's what n***** in Chi-Town were telling him. You already won one. I bet you can't win another."
Chicago has historically produced exceptional basketball talents such as Rose, Isiah Thomas, Tim Hardaway, Antoine Walker, and Anthony Davis, among others. Even though Derrick is the only one who wound up with the Bulls, the fans always had high expectations for its players.
Unfortunately for them, today's Bulls have become one of the league's worst franchises. In fact, they haven't been in title contention since 2011, when D-Rose led the squad to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they lost to the Miami Heat.
For an organization that had the greatest player ever and arguably the greatest teams ever, that's simply not good enough.
Related: "I'm not saying that I can take Kobe Bryant or Tracy McGrady" — Michael Jordan was real about his ability when he played with the Wizards
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