The Ultimate Staring 5 for the Chicago Bulls

The Chicago Bulls have been around since 1966 and are one of the most successful franchises as they have won six championships. The Bulls have 10 players in the Hall of Fame that played for them and many all-stars. The Bulls are the third NBA franchise in Chicago, after the Packers–Zephyrs (now the Washington Wizards) and the Stags.  The Bulls were founded by Dick Klein, who was the Bulls' only owner to ever play professional basketball(Chicago American Gears). They posted the best record by an expansion team in NBA history(33-48) being coached by Chicagoan and former NBA star Johnny Red Kerr. 

Every Bulls discussion and really all NBA discussions start with "His Airiness", Michael Jordan at Shooting Guard. Jordan won all of the Bulls six championships taking home all 6 NBA Finals MVP trophies.

• 5x MVP
• 14x All Star
• 3x All Star Game MVP
• 10x 1st All Team NBA
• 1x 2nd All Team NBA
• 1x Defensive player of the Year
• 9x 1st team all Defense
• Rookie of the Year
• 1st team all Rookie
• 10x Scoring champ
• 3x Steals champ
• 2x Slam Dunk winner
• 3x AP player of the year
• 2x Male USA Athlete of the year
• 2x All-American
• 1x NCAA Champ
• 1x ACC player of the year
• 1x National College player of the year
• #23 retired 2x  by The Bulls & North Carolina Tar Heels
• All-Time scoring leader for The Bulls

 

At the other Guard position it is very hard to pick since the Bulls had a Hall of Famer play for them in their 1st year of existence,  Guy Rodgers. Rodgers in that one season led the league in assists with 908, a Bulls single season record and was voted into the Hall of Fame last year. The nod goes to the the heart and soul of the Bulls his whole life either as a player or broadcaster, Norm Van Lier. His number is retired by the Bulls(#20). Despite being only 6'1, his emphasis on defense kept him under the radar of stardom, and he was not recruited by major basketball powers. The Bulls did draft him in 1969 draft in the 3rd round but traded him to the Kansas City Royals. After leading the league in assists the Bulls reacquired him where he would spend 10 years with them.Van Lier held the record for the longest field goal in NBA history (84 feet) for 24 years. Was the Bulls color commentator for two years and 1992 to 2009, he was a television pre-game and post-game analyst for Chicago Bulls games. He frequently appeared on other Chicago television programs to discuss the Bulls. 

• 3x All Star
• 1x All NBA 2nd Team
• 3x All NBA Defensive 1st Team
• 5x All NBA Defensive 2nd Team
• 1x League leader in Assists(1971) 

At Small Forward the Bulls have two Hall of Famers, Chet Walker and Scottie Pippen. Walker won his ring with the Philadelphia 76ers, was a seven time all star, and an NBA All Rookie 1st team. We all know how good Jordan was but Pippen was no slouch. They were like Batman & Robin one of the greatest tag teams ever since they both were crucial towards those six championships. The first year Jordan was retired Pippen led the Bulls in scoring, assists, and blocks, and was second in the NBA in steals per game, averaging 22.0 points, 8.7 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 2.9 steals, and 0.8 blocks per game, while shooting 49.1% from the field and a career-best 32% from the 3-point line, 55 wins and took the Bulls to the Eastern Conference Finals.

• 7x All Star
• 1x All Star Game MVP
• 3x All NBA 1st Team
• 2x All NBA 2nd Team
• 2x All NBA 3rd Team
• 8x All NBA Defensive 1st Team
• 2x All NBA Defensive 2nd Team
• 1x league leader in steals
• 1x USA Basketball Male Athlete of the year
• 2x Consensus NAIA All-American
• Leads the NBA in career playoff steals, with 395
• Jersey retired 2x by Bulls and Central Arkansas  

At Power Forward for the Bulls is Bob Love who is a Hall of Famer and has his number retired(#4). Yes Nate Thurmond played for the Bulls but that was for only a year plus, the only thing he did for the Bulls was be the first player in NBA history to officially record a quadruple-double. Love was a two time All American and was drafted by the Royals in the fourth in 1965 but failed to make the team, and instead spent the year playing in the Eastern Basketball League. After averaging over 25 points per game, Love earned the EBL Rookie of the Year Award and gained enough confidence to try out for the Royals once more, where he made the team as a reserve. The Bucks took him in the expansion draft and then traded him to the Bulls. Love now works as the Bulls' Director of Community Affairs.   

• 3x All Star
• 2x All NBA 2nd Team
• 3x All NBA Defensive 2nd Team
• #10 jersey retired by the Bulls 

At Center for the Bulls is Artis Gilmore the Hall of Famer who started his career in the ABA where he won the ABA championship in 1975 with the Kentucky Colonels and was the MVP of the ABA playoffs. Gilmore went into the special 1976 ABA dispersal draft, and he was chosen with the first overall pick by the Chicago Bulls. He led the NBA in field goal percentage in four consecutive seasons, including a career best 67% during the 1980-81 season — the fifth highest percentage in NBA history. He remains the NBA's career leader in field goal percentage  with 59.9%.

• 6x NBA All Star
• 5x ABA All Star
• 1x ABA All Star Game MVP
• 1x ABA MVP
• 5x All ABA 1st Team
• 4x All ABA Defensive 1st team
• 1x All NBA Defensive 2nd team
• ABA Rookie of the year
• ABA All Time team
• 1x Consensus first-team All American

The 6th Man would be Ben Gordon if he wasn't still playing but it really goes to Steve Kerr. He won five championships three with the Bulls, won the 1997 3pt shooting contest and won the 2006 shooters competition. Hit the game winning shot in game 6 of the 1997 Finals.

The Head Coach would be Phil Jackson who coached all of the six Bulls Championships and has the most wins in Bulls history with 738.