A shared executive. A shared Finals. Even a shared players intro song.
The Phoenix Suns are in the #NBAFinals and they’ve got a long shared history with our Chicago Bulls. Here are 18 facts (and one bonus) that bind our two franchises.
A thread.
Between 1966 and 1970, the NBA added eight expansion teams, going from nine teams to 17. Two of those teams were the Chicago Bulls and Phoenix Suns.
As we’ll see in this thread, they shared a helluva lot, starting with their first employee.
Chicago Heights’ Jerry Colangelo.
Bulls-Suns history #1, March 1966: Expansion Bulls hire Jerry Colangelo as the team's first employee.
Bulls founder Dick Klein scoops up Chicago Heights native and @IlliniMBB captain Colangelo to serve as head scout and head of marketing.
historicalleague.org/historymakers/…
Bulls-Suns history #2, Feb. 1968: Expansion Suns hire Colangelo as GM.
Bulls employee #1 becomes Suns employee #1 two years later. Colangelo, age 28, would become the first GM of the new Suns. Nineteen years later he would lead a group that would buy the franchise.
Bulls-Suns history #3, Apr. 1968: Colangelo hires recently fired Bulls coach Red Kerr as coach of the Suns.
The first head coach of the Chicago Bulls?
Johnny "Red" Kerr.
The first head coach of the Phoenix Suns?
Johnny "Red" Kerr.
Bulls-Suns history #4, Jun. 1971: Colangelo hires recently fired Bulls scout Jerry Krause.
Two months after the 1971 NBA Draft (pictured here), the Bulls fired Jerry Krause. His old scouting peer Colangelo scooped him up the next month.
readjack.substack.com/p/3rd-times-th…
Bulls-Suns history #5, May 1975: Jerry Krause leads Suns scouting effort to draft Alvan Adams #4 overall.
Adams would win 1976 NBA Rookie of the Year and finish 2nd on the Suns in scoring, 3rd in rebounds and 1st in blocks.
Bulls-Suns history #6, May 1976: Suns reach their first-ever #NBAFinals.
With Adams and other Krause-scouted players, 42-win Suns upset the defending-champ Warriors to reach the Finals. Krause was no longer there; they fired him in Sep. '75. He had his player run-ins for sure.
Bulls-Suns history #7, Jun. 1988: Jerry Krause fails to convince Central Michigan guard Dan Majerle to tank his draft prospects so that the Bulls can get him in the 2nd round. In the 1993 Finals, Jordan takes out some of his anger with Krause on Majerle.
From David Halberstam:
Bulls-Suns history #8, Dec. 1988: Suns trade Craig Hodges to Bulls in a deal that includes Ed Nealy.
Hodges would become a 3x three-point shootout champ and 2x NBA champion. As for Nealy...
Bulls-Suns history #9, 1989 to 1993: Ed Nealy ping-pongs between the Suns and Bulls.
Phoenix trades him to Chicago in ’89, he signs as a FA with the Suns in 1990, and the Bulls trade for him from the Warriors in 1993. On IR, he gets a ring with the Bulls in his final NBA game.
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Sign up now for the low price of Pip a year or Pax a month. Next letter for paid subs is coming this week: interview with Bulls sound engineer @irwin65. (Far right.)
It's all driving to my book: readjack.substack.com
Jerry Krause is one of my favorite figures in Chicago sports history. Just a fascinating man with a great story. Want to learn more about his not one, not two, but THREE stints with the Bulls?
Read this: readjack.substack.com/p/3rd-times-th…
(Also, can you spot Krause?)
That's halftime on this thread. I'll be back for Game 2 of the #NBAFinals with Bulls-Suns history items 10 to 18, plus one bonus.
For now, check out my guest spot with @BiggerttGamePod, discussing my favorite Bulls game ever: Bulls-Suns Game 6. Later!
PS I know that Krause story is for subscribers only. Here is my ode to The Sleuth from after his death in 2017. We would not be six-time champs without his moves. Simple as that.
blogabull.com/2017/3/24/1504…
A fake trade. A real trade. Draft day surprises. And of course, one legendary #NBAFinals.
Here is part two of the shared history between the Phoenix Suns and your Chicago Bulls.
A thread, continued.
Bulls-Suns history #10, early 1990s: The Suns steal Sirius.
That's right, the Phoenix Suns took our famed player intro! Steal from the best, right? Here we are doing it in Nov. 1986, Jordan's third season. The song was discovered by P.A. announcer Tommy Edwards.
By at least the 1989-90 season, the Suns — then owned by Chicagoan Jerry Colangelo — started using Sirius for their player intros. Here it is during the 1990 Western Conference Finals.
And here is @jakemalooley's must-read oral history on the intro:
theringer.com/nba/2018/11/13…
As the Bulls rose, the intro exploded. @AndNowPA replaced Edwards in 1990-91, and once we won a title the intro was complete:
"Your WORLD CHAMPION... Chicago Bulls!"
Game 1, 1992 #NBAFinals. When the lights cut out at the old barn, all was subsumed. @irwin65
Obviously the Suns were watching. In 1992-93, they got a new superstar, a new coach, a new arena, new uniforms...
...and a new player intro. Same song, but now they had 3D jumbotron graphics of entering the stadium. This is from Game 6. Look familiar, Bulls fans?
Two seasons later, the Bulls upped the ante again, matching the Suns with the 3D computer intro, though this time moving through downtown to reach the UC.
Here is the player intro on March 24, 1995, Michael Jordan's first home game since his return from baseball.
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