Ranking the Greatest Player from Each Decade in Chicago Bulls History

The Chicago Bulls have now played in a total of six decades since their inception in 1966, these decades being the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s, and 10s. 

In each of those decades, there was at least one player who stood out as being one of the great Chicago Bulls of all time, and multiple players in many cases. However for each decade, I picked one player who embodied the Chicago Bulls of that decade. 

Agree? Disagree? Let me know in the comments!

1960s: Jerry Sloan

Jerry Sloan was one of the original Chicago Bulls, picked in the 1966 Expansion Draft from the Baltimore Bullets. Sloan made waves in his first season in Chicago, averaging over 17 points per game and making the All-Star team. 

While Sloan was a player who had the capabilities to score, averaging 14.0 points per game over his career, he really gained his reputation as part of one of the great defensive backcourts in history next to Norm Van Lier. In his eight years in the league after the creation of the All-Defense team, Sloan made the team a remarkable six times, including four first-team appearances at guard.

Sloan is better known from his production in the 70s as well as his prolific NBA coaching career with the Utah Jazz, but he is remembered on this list as one of the original great Chicago Bulls. 

1970s: Bob Love

Bob Love is the only other non-Jordan era Bull to have his number retired by the Bulls, and it's for good reason. 

Love was traded to the Chicago Bulls in 1969 after a rocky start to his career in Cincinnati, and absolutely thrived. In his first full season with the Bulls, Love increased his scoring numbers from 5.9 points per game all the way up to 21.0 points per game! In one season! Love peaked two years later at 25.8 points per game.

Love averaged almost 18 points per game over his career and made three All-Star teams, two All-NBA teams and three All-Defense teams.

After his career, he worked through a severe stuttering problem and went on to become director of community relations for our beloved club. So really this is a combination player and lifetime achievement award. 

1980s: Michael Jordan

Am I cheating? Yes, I am. 

The 1980s Bulls before Jordan were characterized by ineptitude, and the era after Jordan was an era characterized by the switching of personnel, so there's really no good answer to this question.

On the other hand, I don't want to use the same player for two different slides, so I am cheating. I do in fact realize that MJ's best days came during the 90s, don't fret. 

MJ is the greatest ever. He scored. He rebounded. He assisted. He played defense. He was a leader. He hit game-winners. He was part of the greatest marketing scheme of all time—the Jordan brand. He won titles. He won MVPs. He was screwed out of other MVPs. He won Finals MVPs.

Any questions? 

1990s: Scottie Pippen

And this is why I'm cheating. Michael Jordan was the best player of the 90s, but there was another legitimate option that I could have put in his place. With the 80s, there were really no good other options. 

Scottie Pippen may be one of the most underrated players in NBA History. People always remember Pippen as Jordan's sidekick, but what they may forget is how valuable a player Scottie Pippen really was. 

To start things off, Scottie Pippen was the most dominant perimeter defender of all time. End of story. Michael and Gary Payton may have won the awards, but Pippen was just flat out better. He was able to use his incredible athleticism and length to guard any position from point guard to power forward, and he showed it night after night. Payton and Jordan would make the all-time All-Defense Team, but Pippen would spearhead the perimeter D.

In addition, Pippen just flat out did what he was asked to do. As I said before, he always guarded the opposing team's best perimeter player. He also was perhaps the best point-forward in league history, or at least until LeBron arrived. Pippen could also score if the team needed him to, as shown by the 93-94 season when he averaged 22 points per game as the alpha dog.

Maybe Scottie will never be remembered as a Batman, but as Robins go, he is far and away the best.  

2000s: Ben Gordon

The 2000s were not exactly what you would call a great decade for the Chicago Bulls, especially at the beginning. Until the arrival of Gordon, Hinrich and Deng, the Bulls were a perennial laughingstock. Between the three players I listed, it was hard to pick one player who was the greatest Chicago Bull. 

In the end, I went with BG. 

Like all post-Jordan Chicago Bulls shooting guards, Gordon was unfairly criticized for not being Michael Jordan. But think about it: Gordon was second in double-digit scoring in fourth quarters in his rookie season—second to only LeBron James.

In only four seasons, Gordon passed Scottie Pippen as the Chicago Bulls all-time leader for three pointers made. BG became only the fifth Bull to average 20-plus points per game for a team that finished above .500, joining Jordan, Pippen, Bob Love and Chet Walker. 

While we choose to remember the bad aspects of Ben Gordon (like turnovers), we forget how vital to team success he really was. He was undeniably the best scorer on the team, and I would argue that he was the most important player on the team over the course of his time in Chicago. 

2010s: Derrick Rose

The decade is young, but it appears the future is now. 

Derrick Rose became the youngest player in league history to win MVP at only 22 years old. He also averaged an astounding 25 points per game and 7.7 assists per game. With Rose at the helm, the Chicago Bulls won more than 60 games for the first time since the Jordan era. 

Other first since the Jordan era?

First winning Circus Trip, first All-Star, first 25-point scorer, first Eastern Conference Finals appearance...the list goes on and on. 

While we're only one year in, it is already clear that the 2010s will be the decade of Rose.