Washington Wizards Emerging as Chicago Bulls' Biggest and Most Hated Rival

CHICAGO — Some rivalries span for generations.

Others are a product of geography.

But the most compelling ones, like the rivalry emerging between the Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards, develop organically, forged through tough playoff battles and clashing personalities.

Since the Wizards eliminated the Bulls from the playoffs last season, this has been one of those. The Bulls’ 97-92 Tuesday night win over the Wizards was the closest the United Center has come to a playoff atmosphere this season. It’s more fun when there’s a villain.

Starting with that playoff series, Wizards center Nene has filled that role for the Bulls. His head-butt of Jimmy Butler in their first-round series earned him a one-game suspension and a permanent place in the memory of the team and its fans.

“I don’t want to talk about Chicago,” Nene told reporters Monday. “You know I hate them.”

The feeling is mutual in Chicago. That much was apparent from the player intros on Tuesday, when the Bulls crowd greeted the Brazilian big man with a shower of boos.

The animosity didn’t let up during the game—the biggest reception of the night came about halfway through the fourth quarter, when Nene fouled out. But it was his fifth foul, a flagrant against Joakim Noah, that will stick in their minds.

“I really don’t know what to say right now,” Noah said after the game, choosing his words carefully. “I’m just happy we won. I’m happy I kept my composure. I just put out a video a couple hours before the game about non-violence, trying to teach these kids about the big picture, you know what I mean? So it wouldn’t have been a good look. Not today.”

Noah may not have wanted to escalate things this time, but his energy was inescapable, and the rest of the team fed off of it. He threw down a one-handed reverse dunk in the first quarter. He cursed himself out, loudly, for missing three straight free throws.

Noah has always worn his heart on his sleeve and treated every game like a do-or-die. That’s why he and Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau are such a good match. But it was obvious he wanted this one a little bit more.

Old-school rivalries are rare in the modern NBA—the kind where the teams clearly don’t like each other, and the fans let them know it. The Los Angeles Clippers have them with the Golden State Warriors and Memphis Grizzlies, and that’s about it.

The last few seasons, that team for the Bulls has been the Miami Heat. Noah famously called them “Hollywood as hell” during LeBron James’ first season there in 2010-11, and even throughout the last two injury-plagued Bulls seasons, the home crowd always showed up when Miami came to town.

Brian Babineau/Getty Images

But as soon as James left for the Cleveland Cavaliers last summer, that rivalry departed with it.

In its place are the Wizards, a playoff foe with players who have a history. The Wizards’ addition of Paul Pierce, who was a fixture in Boston during the physical Bulls-Boston Celtics series in 2009, only adds to the animosity.

“There’s definitely an intensity when we play the Wizards,” said Mike Dunleavy. “You can feel it in the crowd, especially when they’re booing every player in the starting lineup.”

Even Thibodeau, the last person in the world to care whether the Bulls are playing the Wizards or a harmless team like the Minnesota Timberwolves or Orlando Magic, couldn’t deny that the emotions run high between these two teams.

“If [the Wizards] played everybody else the way they play us, they might be looking at a championship,” the coach said.

Even still, he downplayed Nene’s flagrant foul on Noah.

“Just two guys exchanging pleasantries,” he said. “You have two guys that are going after it pretty good, there is going to be some stuff. They are both fierce competitors. They’re big competitive guys, and they are a physical team. We have to match that.”

It’s not that simple for the players, however much they try to pretend otherwise.

“They’re the team that eliminated us last year in the playoffs,” said Noah. “When that happens, even subconsciously it’s always more than just a basketball game.”

Sean Highkin covers the Chicago Bulls for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @highkin