Early years During their
inaugural season (1966–67), the Bulls compiled a 33–48 record under coach
Johnny "Red" Kerr and reached the playoffs. This was the best record achieved by an NBA
expansion team in its first year of play, a feat which earned Kerr the
NBA Coach of the Year Award.
Dick Motta replaced Kerr in 1969, and under his leadership, the Bulls appeared in the playoffs every year from 1970 to 1975. The team reached the Western Conference finals in
1974 and
1975, but lost to the
Milwaukee Bucks and
Golden State Warriors, respectively. Key players during the Motta era included
Jerry Sloan,
Bob Love,
Chet Walker,
Norm Van Lier, and
Tom Boerwinkle. Revered basketball writer
Bob Ryan wrote that Sloan and Van Lier comprised the "physically and mentally toughest NBA backcourt" he ever saw. The Bulls qualified for the playoffs just twice between 1976 and 1984, a period in which the team used eight different head coaches, including former player Jerry Sloan. They had a chance to win the first pick of the
1979 NBA draft, which would have allowed them to select future
Hall of Famer Magic Johnson. However, they lost a coin flip to the Los Angeles Lakers, and went on to choose
David Greenwood with the second pick. Although Greenwood averaged 12.6 points over six seasons with the Bulls, he never became an NBA All-Star. During this period the Bulls were perhaps best known for being led by former-ABA star
Artis Gilmore and
Reggie Theus, both of whom were multiple time
All-Stars with the Bulls.
Jordan era won 6 championships with the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls' luck turned for the better after selecting Michael Jordan with the third overall pick in the
1984 NBA draft. Jordan averaged 28.2
points per game during his first season and received the 1985
NBA Rookie of the Year Award. From 1985 onwards, the Bulls reached the playoffs every season he was on the team's roster despite having had a losing record in each of his first three years. Jordan could not lead the Bulls past the first round of the playoffs by himself losing to the champion Celtics and in 1987 general manager
Jerry Krause acquired
Scottie Pippen and
Horace Grant at that summer's
draft. In 1989, the Bulls played in their first
conference finals series since 1975, losing to the
Detroit Pistons. Coach
Phil Jackson, an assistant since 1987, succeeded Doug Collins as head coach after that season and in
1991, the team won their first of three consecutive NBA championships by defeating Magic Johnson and the Lakers. and are widely regarded as
one of the greatest teams in NBA history.
Post-Jordan era After the Bulls won their sixth championship, Phil Jackson was not re-signed and spent some time away from basketball. Michael Jordan then announced his second retirement, because general manager Jerry Krause wanted to begin rebuilding the roster with younger athletes. Six players from the 1997–98 Bulls (Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman,
Steve Kerr,
Luc Longley,
Jud Buechler,) joined other teams through free agency or
sign-and-trade deals, and with few established players left on the roster, the Bulls missed the
1999 playoffs. This began a six-year playoff drought, the longest such drought in team history. The Bulls' poor record did help them win the 2008
NBA draft lottery, which allowed them to select
Derrick Rose with the
first pick in the
NBA draft. They made the
2009 NBA playoffs, only to lose in a seven-game series against the
Boston Celtics which included a record seven
overtime periods. In 2010, Del Negro was replaced by
Tom Thibodeau, and the Bulls reached the 2011 Eastern Conference finals, losing to the
Miami Heat in five games. ==Table key==