The History of the Chicago Bulls

The Chicago Bulls are one of the most iconic teams in professional sports. The team has been a member of the National Basketball Association since 1966 and has won six championships to date, including three consecutive titles from 1991-1993. In this blog post, we will explore the history of the Chicago Bulls as well as their dynasty years!

The Chicago Bulls were founded in 1966 as an expansion team. The team played its home games at the Chicago Stadium, which was also the home of the Chicago Blackhawks of the NHL. The Bulls struggled in their early years, posting a record of 24-58 in their first season. However, the team improved drastically in subsequent seasons and made it to the playoffs for the first time in 1970.

The Bulls would go on to make the playoffs in each of their next six seasons but were unable to advance past the first round. In 1976, however, the Bulls made it to the Eastern Conference Finals before losing to the Boston Celtics. The team continued to post strong results in the late 1970s and early 1980s but consistently lost in the playoffs to other powerhouses of the era such as Julius Erving's Philadelphia 76ers or Larry Bird's Boston Celtics.

The Bulls would finally breakthrough in 1984 when they won their first division title and advanced all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals before losing again to the Celtics. The team would go on to make the playoffs in each of the next six seasons but were unable to make it past the first round. In 1991, however, everything changed for the Bulls.

The Bulls had a new head coach in Phil Jackson and a new starting center in Horace Grant. The team also added Scottie Pippen to the starting lineup midway through the season. The Bulls would go on to post a record of 61-21, which was good enough for first place in the Eastern Conference. In the playoffs, the Bulls dispatched the Philadelphia 76ers, New York Knicks, and Detroit Pistons en route to their first championship.

In 1992, the Bulls would post a record of 67-15 during the regular season and go on to win their second consecutive NBA championship. Michael Jordan won his first Finals MVP award in 1993 after leading the team to a record of 62-20 during the regular season and winning another NBA championship. In 1994, however, Jackson left Chicago to coach the Los Angeles Lakers.

Despite this, the Bulls were still able to win their third consecutive NBA championship in 1995 with a record of 55-27 under new head coach Phil Jackson (who returned after coaching the LA Lakers). The following year, however, Jordan retired and Pippen would go on to sign with his former team - the Houston Rockets. Without Jordan and Pippen, the Bulls were unable to replicate their championship-winning form for several seasons until 1998 when they drafted future superstar Elton Brand.

That year, however, was not a successful one as players such as Ron Artest and Jamal Mashburn did not gel well with other members of the team. The following year, the Bulls drafted another future superstar in Jay Williams. This would prove to be a turning point for the team as they made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2001 before losing to Allen Iverson's Philadelphia 76ers.

The Bulls would continue to make the playoffs every year until 2007 when they missed out due to injuries to several key players such as Kirk Hinrich and Luol Deng. In 2008, the Bulls drafted Derrick Rose who would go on to become a four-time All-Star with Chicago. The team continued its success in the latter half of this decade by making it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2011 before losing to Lebron James' Miami Heat.

Today, the Bulls are among one of the top teams in the NBA and will look to contend for another championship in upcoming seasons. This is all due to their storied history which includes six championships, nine conference titles, 22 playoff appearances, 20 retired jerseys, four Hall-of-Famers (Jerry Sloan, Bob Love, Scottie Pippen, and Michael Jordan), and one of the greatest dynasties in NBA history.