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The Chicago Bulls have dominated the NBA news cycle since the season went on hiatus, thanks to The Last Dance and their decision to use the off time to remake their entire front office, ousting longtime duo John Paxson and Gar Forman, hiring Arturas Karnisovas from Denver as their executive vice president of basketball operations.
Karnisovas swiftly began retooling the front office in Chicago, and the last big hire left to make was at general manager. Late Sunday night, they apparently got a deal done to bring in a new GM, as ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski brought word that Sixers assistant Marc Eversley has accepted the position.
Sixers assistant GM Marc Eversley has agreed to a deal to become the Chicago Bulls new general manager, league sources tell ESPN. Eversley will join EVP of Basketball Operations Arturas Karnisovas to lead a reshaped front office.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 27, 2020
Not only is it big news in that the Bulls have finalized a new front office structure, but it’s also historic for the franchise as Eversley is the first black general manager the Bulls have had.
Eversley, a native of Canada, will become the first black GM in franchise history. He comes to the Bulls after front office runs with the Sixers, Wizards, Raptors and a decade at Nike. Michael Reinsdorf has now fully remade the Bulls front office now. https://t.co/O4OYz4MxMe
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 27, 2020
When the Bulls list of candidates for their EVP position was reported, one of the chief criticisms was the lack of diversity in the pool, and it’s good to see Karnisovas and Reinsdorf take seriously the importance of looking into minority candidates for their GM position. In the end, they landed on Eversley as their man, who has worked previously in Philly, Toronto, and with Nike. It will now be on Eversley and Karnisovas to work together to figure out the next steps for the franchise, from what players to keep and build around to whether Jim Boylen should be the coach.
The Bad Boys-era Detroit Pistons were the greatest foe the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls ever faced. Detroit took Chicago down in the NBA playoffs three years in a row early in Jordan’s career, resorting to hyper-aggressive tactics known as the “Jordan Rules” to physically and mentally test the Bulls and their superstar guard.
For years, this worked out swimmingly. Detroit beat Chicago in the conference semifinals in 1988, then bounced the Bulls in thee 1988 and 1989 conference finals. As we saw in episode four of The Last Dance, though, that did not happen in 1990 — Chicago’s front office replaced head coach Doug Collins with assistant coach Phil Jackson, who changed up how the team played and stressed becoming a mentally tougher squad.
“With them being more mentally dominant than we were, they knew, soon as we start complaining, they had us,” Bulls forward Horace Grant said. “And they did.”
That, combined with the commitment the Bulls’ players made to becoming physically stronger, worked. Chicago swept Detroit in the conference finals en route to winning their first ring in 1991, capping things off with a 21-point beatdown in the Motor City.
One moment in that Game 4 win stood out for all of those involved, as it was the moment that both teams realized the Pistons could no longer bully the Bulls. Scottie Pippen drove to the rim and received a shove from Dennis Rodman, the type of dirty play that had set the team off in past years. But instead of complaining or trying to retaliate, Pippen sat on the ground with a blank look on his face for a moment.
“When Pippen didn’t respond to that abuse, there’s nothing they could do to beat us then,” Jordan said.
This sentiment was shared by Detroit Pistons forward/center John Salley, who said that “Scottie was unshakeable, didn’t even want a band aid. When we saw that, it was over.”
Pippen’s lack of a response also galvanized the Bulls. Both Grant and Bill Cartwright looked back on the moment fondly, as both guys recalled the team’s mindset as Pippen got up and calmly stepped to the free throw line following the flagrant fouls.
“It was just like, ‘Ok, it’s a foul, let’s go ahead and finish kicking their ass,’” Grant said.
“And put ‘em out of their misery,” Cartwright said.
Chicago managed to do just that. Following this loss, Detroit’s tenure atop the Eastern Conference came to an end. The franchise got bounced in the first round of the playoffs the following year, then spent the next nine years either missing the playoffs or failing to get out of the first round.