The Chicago Bulls were a struggling franchise playing in a flailing tournament. Then, Michael Jordan came and turned them into a worldwide sensation, taking the NBA to every corner of the planet and paving the way for what it is nowadays.
The Bulls haven’t made the NBA Finals since Jordan’s final year with the team. But the standard has remained the same, at least for the fans. Despite all the heartbreak and the tough seasons, expectations haven’t changed.
That’s why DeMar DeRozan knows he needs to bring his A-Game night in and night out. In a recent interview with Draymond Green, the All-Star guard explained how different Bulls fans are, and the vibe players feel.
NBA News: DeMar DeRozan Talks Chicago Bulls Fans
“The moment when you realize that you really gotta bring it every single night in that arena, I think it was four, five games into the season, and we’re playing the Knicks. I take the game-winner, an air-ball. I just felt the whole vibe, like everything, ‘what the f**k? What was that?’ I felt like I disrespected the aura with these fans and what they used to see from MJ hitting game winners,” DeRozan said.
“You know, he lived for those moments, and being in that moment for the first time, my fourth, fifth game in the season, and I take that shot, it was like, I told myself I would never be in that situation again,” the guard added.“So you look back at all the moments that I had in that arena, it was more like, this is the ghost– I’m trying to inherit the ghost of Michael on this fadeaway with the clock running down. I carried that to heart after that moment because you felt it from the fans, you felt it on social media… And you hear his music when you come out, you gotta live up to it.”
DeRozan knows he will never be Michael Jordan, and that’s fine. Fans don’t expect him to be. They just expect him to play with the same utterconfidence and determination to win, regardless of the outcome.