By: David Kay and Paul M. Banks
2008-09 Season Summary:
When the magical Bulls-Celtics first round playoff series started, most of Chicago just wasn’t very excited. I mean who gets all warm and tingly about a 41-41 team sneaking into the playoffs? This was the same squad that resided in the bottom rung of the league in February, and had a head coach who wasn’t coaching and an ugly home loss to the OKC Thunder on their resume. But the Bulls transformed themselves after the John Salmons/Brad Miller trade, and that transformative process continued into the postseason in where the #7 seeded Bulls took the #2 seeded and defending World Champion Boston Celtics to 7 games. The numerous extra sessions effectively made it the best playoff series of all time.
It also further accentuated the only true positive of the regular season, that #1 overall pick, hometown hero, and now NBA Rookie of the Year Derrick Rose is a true superstar in the making. Despite the loss, the playoffs made Chicago care about the Bulls because it told us, “hey the Bulls are truly back.” Even though it was the longest series in NBA history, it went by too quick. Moving forward, everything starts with stability in the front office as GM John Paxson’s successor will have plenty of questions.
Check out our complete Bulls season preview and other NBA previews and power rankings.