Where Are They Now?: Most Memorable (Or Not) Bulls of the Lost Years

Fans of the Kansas City Royals, LA Clippers and Detroit Lions know what it feels like to go through a Great Depression. Each team can be considered the consensus worst team of the decade in the MLB, NBA, and NFL respectively.

So do Chicagoans. In your head you are thinking, "The Bears made a Super Bowl and the playoffs multiple times, so he's not referring to them. The Cubs, despite not winning a World Series in a million years have also made the playoffs this decade. The White Sox won a World Series so they're out. The Bulls won a whole mess of championships with Michael Jordan..."

STOP RIGHT THERE.

The image of the Bulls recent history is rightly clouded by the GOAT and his successor Derrick Rose. Sure, the Bulls have made the playoffs every year since 2004 besides one.

But those five years in between Jordan's last championship and that 2004 season were unbelievably brutal.

Thankfully, the Bulls were the benefactors of a miracle some Chicagoans would say rivals the Miracle of Light in landing D-Rose, and we are again a heavyweight title contender.

The good times rolling along as such allows us to take a nostalgic look back on the five lost years and revisit some of the former Bull names that would make any technologically savvy fan say SMH.

Ron Mercer

Ron Mercer quite possibly represents the most significant free agent acquisition made by the Bulls in the Forgotten Years.

With a career scoring average of 16 points per game, the three-year journeyman was brought in before Year 3 Post-Jordan to boost a young, inexperienced squad that struggled to put the ball in the hoop.

In his first and only full season in red and black Mercer did just as he was expected, topping his previous career best with 19.7 ppg in 61 games as the Bulls' second option behind Elton Brand.

Unfortunately, Ron Ron could not avoid the revolving doors that came to define the United Center in those dark times.He was shipped out midway through the 2001-2002 as part of the trade that brought in Jalen Rose and a box of Cracker Jacks from the Pacers.

Mercer went on to play for a total of seven NBA teams over an illustrious eight year career that saw him written into the histories as one of the most traded players ever. In 2005, he was unceremoniously waived by the New Jersey Nets as a casualty of the new labor agreement.

Rumor has it that Mr. Mercer can now be seen back on campus back at his alma mater, the University of Kentucky, finishing his degree.

Perhaps he is trying to get back on track after being arrested and charged with misdemeanor assault as the result of a fight he and a friend caused in a strip club in April 2007. His friend stabbed a bouncer.

Marcus "The Black Hole" Fizer

Taken with the fourth pick just a year into the Elton Brand Rebuilding Experience as an equally Brand-sized backup at 6-8 262, Marcus Fizer can be found somewhere near the top of the list of Bulls' biggest draft busts since MJ left town.

In four years as Brand's understudy, Fizer somehow managed to become a black hole: he averaged a shot about every two minutes on court, yet never reached a .500 field goal percentage. The ball went in to him down low, but it never came back out.

Since winning the NBDL MVP award with the Austin Toros in 2006, Fizer has taken his talents global to Israel, Spain and Puerto Rico.

Fun Fizer Fact I: He suited up in Puerto Rico with Antoine Walker a.k.a. the NBA's biggest walking financial disaster.

Fun Fizer Fact II: Though Chris "Birdman" Anderson destroys the competition when it comes to the most inked players in the NBA, Fizer held his own with 31 tattoos.

John Starks

If there was one player who would never be allowed to don a Bulls uniform on court, it would be Reggie Miller.

If there were two they would be Reggie Miller and John Starks. (Ironically, Starks and Miller hated each other and Starks once headbutted Miller.)

But in 2000, at the tail end of his playing career, Starks randomly suited up for all of four games as a Chicago Bull.

This is the only photo in existence of Starks in the white and red. Did it really happen? This is Area 51 material.

My favorite John Starks tidbit, aside from the Reggie Miller headbutt: he spent a year as the head coach of a Slamball team.

"Salvador" Dalibor Bagarić

Back when it was hip to draft lurching European 7-footers with no shooting touch, the Bulls were the coolest kid on the block.

Having survived the Y2K scare, Chicago took a chance on Croatian sensation Dalibor Bagarić, bagging him with the 24th pick in the 2000 draft.

Though Dalibor dominated the paint in his home country, the one-time double-double machine never acclimated to the NBA's pace.

A consummate Chicago fan favorite, Bagarić did not last past his rookie contract and has been bouncing around Euroleague teams for the last eight years.

At least his name is really fun to say!

Kornel "West Side" David AKA "The Michael Jordan of Hungary"

I kid you not, that really was his nickname. Not the West Side part, I made that up. The Michael Jordan of Hungary part.

Fred "The Mayor" Hoiberg

Fred Hoiberg was meant to be the second coming of Steve Kerr.

He was short, white and relatively unathletic for the NBA, but was also heady on the court, a hustle guy, and could shoot the J from long range.

Another fan favorite in his four years with the Forgetta-Bulls, The Mayor didn't quite live up to expectations.

Though he did put up solid numbers in the post-lockout season: shooting 41.2% from downtown while averaging nine points a game.

Apparently he was nicknamed The Mayor for an unusually large number of write-in votes he received in the 1993 mayoral election in hometown Ames, Iowa.

His other claim to fame is being the only player to lead the league in three-point percentage and not get invited to participate in the All-Star Weekend three-point shooting contest, which happened while playing for Minnesota in his final season.

Michael Ruffin

Whose head shape more resembles that of the alien from Alien: Sam Cassell or  Michael Ruffin?

Also, it was particularly difficult to find a picture of Ruffin in a Bulls jersey despite the fact that he was on the team for two full years...

Eddie Robinson

The worst contract of general manager Jerry Krause's career might be the fatty check he wrote for E-Rob: 5 years and $32 million.

According to Krause, Robinson was one of those athletic leapers with serious potential. You'd almost hope Krause was throwing $32 million at Robinson based on his potential because there wasn't much else: seven points and less than three rebounds per game was all the 6-8 swingman gave the Charlotte Hornets in his first two seasons.

He didn't give much more to Chicago in three years before Krause's replacement John Paxson convinced owner Jerry Reinsdorf to buy out the last two years of Robinson's contract.

Since his days as a Bull, Robinson has struggled to catch on with teams in the D-League and the National Basketball League of Canada.

At least he got paid lots of money.

Khalid El-Amin

Khalid El-Amin might just be my favorite on this list because he was the little guy on the court, not unlike myself.

Unfortunately, he only lasted 50 games in the NBA.

On the bright side, the munchkin has dominated European competition since 2005, winning a few championships and MVP awards in Turkey, Ukraine and Lithuania.