Vegas Summer League: Bulls v. Warriors

I got here late but I gotta do this. First Bulls basketball since the GOAT first round series against the Celtics. Here we go…

7:16: Got here late, but I’m here so let’s do this. In the man cave with the MLB All-Star Game on mute and the Bulls on the computer.

7:16: James Augustine looks solid, Taj looks meh, DeMarcus Nelson looks garbage.

7:18: I do like the mini-highlight reels they got going in between timeouts. Good stuff NBATV.

7:20: I do like the updated summer league jerseys. They have the same name and number fonts on the back of these jerseys as they have on the regular season jerseys…cool.

7:21: I forgot to mention this is my first look at Steph Curry against NBA talent (I guess…).

These announcers are no where near the level that Dante and Galante are on. It’s just not the same without those guys. Ugh. I’ll get over it. Back to basketball.

7:23: Anthony Randolph takes a dump on Luke Zeller. If Stacey King were announcing this he’d be screaming “OH GET OUT THE WAY BOI GET OUT THE WAY!!!”

And Josh Shipp nails the buzzer beat just a bit too late. Won’t count, but nice.

7:28: Just saw on the All-Star commercial, Michael Strahan has his own TV show now. Yeah, I’ll let that sink in for a moment before I comment.

I give it 3 episodes before it’s cancelled.

7:30: I think this is the only time when you can see and IN-GAME interview with an NBA Head Coach. Very professional Vinny, get back to the bench!

Augustine with another layup, he’s really racking up the points right now.

7:37: We get the first look at JJ with the coast to coast dunk. I’m starting to like this pick more and more as we go. You’re good with the JJ pick, GarPax, but there’s still a long way to go to get off the hook for Taj.

7:40: There was the first pitch, did the FOX crew purposely cut the landing of the pitch out of the shot just to make sure they didn’t embarrass the prez??? LAME!

7:41: Okay we get a replay and he’s just a little low of Pujols’ glove.

7:42: JJ embracing the point forward role pretty well. Bringing it up quite a bit and looking pretty fluid and smooth with his handle and passing. Sweet.

7:44: Nearly 15 minutes later and Vinny is still getting interviewed instead of coaching. This bears the question: Who is ruling the bench right now? *Prays anybody but Pete Meyers*

7:46: JJ and Taj combine for the huge rejection on the GSW dunk attempt. I’m getting really, really excited for this season now. Can’t wait.

7:49: Taj rips down a board and lays it back in. Looking good on back to back possesions…don’t get too excited GarPax, wait til the real season for Taj to prove worthy.

There’s that VDN three-man-weave offense working nicely against NBA scrubs. Anthony Randolph really showing me something tonight.

7:51: Halftime, Bulls widdled down the deficit to only a point. Bulls 45  -  46 Warriors.

Our halftime leaders are Augustine with 15 points, JJ with 11 points and 5 boards, and Taj with 7 points and 5 boards also.

7:58: MLB All-Star Update, AL up 1 in the top of the first after hometown hero, Albert Pujols, boots what could have been an inning-ending double play. You can hear a pin drop at New Busch right now.

8:00: Then a tailor made double play but Lincecum isn’t covering the bag. 2-0 AL.

8:05: We’ll we get back to the game and its almost halfway through the third quarter…what? Well we caught insight to what the NBA executives do on their off days while getting a behind looks look at their Tuesday night jamboree. That was fun. Good work NBA.

8:10: And we settle in to regular summer league action, lots of awful shots and bad misses. Glad we’re paying $15 to see this.

Nice take by Josh Shipp, taking it strong to the hole. Could possibly be one of the last guys added to the training camp roster.

8:14: JJ is still a little raw and may be able to play power forward in small doses but I’m not sure about him taking on a Hedo type role on this team, atleast not yet.

8:20: More of the same, bad shots, turnovers, horrible officiating. Randolph just tearing it up. Real athletic big man with dynamite footwork. He’s something. But then again, it IS summer league so we’ll see come the regular season how legit this kid is.

8:23: All-Star update, Tim McCarver is yucking it up with Obama in the booth right now as Yadier Molina knocks in two to tie it up.

8:25: It took me three quarters to realize that we have a female ref in the officiating group tonight. Cool, I guess. Bulls down 11 after three.

NL up one in the Mid-Summer Classic.

8:34: JJ’s jumper is looking real silky tonight. He can really become a nice 3/4 tweener with some serious skill. Combine him with Tyrus in one player and you have a very legitimate NBA player, but the two of them individually have some work to do.

8:37: JJ with 21 points 8 boards right now, could he show up Blake Griffin? DO WORK JJ!

8:41: Time to go for the Bulls, down 7 with 5 to go, gotta get something going.

8:44: The announcers bring up a good point. What the hell happened to Acie Law IV. This guy was a tank during the tournament a few years ago for Texas A&M and was the 11th pick in the draft for the hawks. How is he struggling to make an NBA roster with such a good skill set?

8:48: Game winding down, nice to see Anthony Roberson with the quick trigger and can sink a shot or two. I’m not sure if he can be one of the guys to round out the roster but he’d be up there for one of the last spots. Bulls down 9, just over a minute left.

8:52: Anthony Randolph adds in points number 41 and 42 to tie the SL record. He is just absolutely killing tonight.

8:55: Last minute, Steph Curry throws up a couple bricks and that’s it. Bulls lose 95-83 and just get single handedly dominated by Randolph. JJ leads the bulls with 21 points and 8 boards and Taj gets 14 points and 12 boards. Good debuts for our young Bulls. Next game is tomorrow against the Bucks at 5 central. We’ll see you then and hope the Bulls can get a W.

Turkoglu Stiffs Blazers, Supposedly Bolts for America’s Hat

Hedo Turkoglu is laughing all the way to the bank at the expense of two NBA franchises.

On the eve of America’s Birthday, a Turkish man, making a living off of American customers’ money, has bolted for Canada. Sources confirmed that Hedo Turkoglu had agreed in principal to a deal that would make him a Portland Trail Blazer, only to back out just a few hours after apparently agreeing. The reason? The Toronto Raptors.

The Raptors, who had also, supposedly, offered to extend current SF, Shawn Marion, to stay with the club, have opted to overpay an overall average SF because of his accomplishments during the playoffs. Like Trevor Ariza, if the past 2 months never happened, Turkoglu would be looking at significantly less money in his offers.

ESPN has reported that Turkoglu is turning his back on the Blazers and joining the Raptors because, get this, his wife thinks it’s a better idea. Gotta love it when a professional franchise can get shat on because a player’s wife isn’t interested. Hey there’s a first time for everything. And while I’m sure glad I’m not the Blazers right now, I’m more glad that I’m not the Raptors right now.

In a last ditch effort to convince Chris Bosh that they are willing to pay for a winner, the Raptors have screwed themselves into having to deal with 6 years of overpaying an overall mediocre player. In these economic times, that just flat out sucks. In a year when it looks like the salary cap is actually going to go down, every dollar means just that much more. When you’re stuck paying a relatively hefty contract for somebody who’s not really worth it, especially come the unbelievably overhyped 2010 free agent class, not many things could be worse.

So, while still a developing story, this is major news around the league and could potentially hurt two teams going forward. Good work, Glu.

Bulls’ Summer League Squad Announced

Bulls' rookie, James Johnson, is juiced for summer league action.

The much anticipated release of the Chicago Bulls’ summer league team has finally arrived. In recent years the Bulls have brought in impressive prospects such as Aaron Miles, Thomas Gardner, Will Daniels, etc. These were the guys I was rooting for to make the preseason roster. Only one of them did make it (Gardner), but he enjoyed only a short stay with the team.

This year, I look up and down the roster and see names like UCLA stud, Josh Shipp, and former NC State baller, Julius Hodge, and I can’t help but get excited as hell for this summer league. Nothing gets me more excited to hear Dante and Galante chirping about intriguing prospects who could make an impact on the roster and how the season turns out.

Four of the 17 prospects have had three or more years of experience in the league. This is a bit surprising as it seems like the summer league is usually more rookie dominated, (ie. 10 rookies on the summer league roster this year).

Another fact that makes me incredibly excited is that when you look up and down the roster and see what school everybody comes from college powerhouse teams. I see schools like Florida, Duke, UCLA, Pitt, NC State, and Illinois (James Augustine, gotta root for the local college star) among others, and can’t help getting giddy as hell for this roster.

2	Bryan Mullins	G	6-2 | 190	01/13/87	Southern Illinois	R
3	Josh Shipp	G	6-5 | 215	02/14/86	UCLA	1
5	Anthony Roberson	G	6-2 | 180	02/14/83	Florida	4
6	Chris Davis	G	6-1 | 185	01/26/86	Southern	R
11	Taurean Green	G	6-0 | 185	11/28/85	Florida	3
14	Lorenzo Mata-Real	C/F	6-8 | 230	02/27/86	UCLA	R
16	James Johnson	F	6-8 | 245	02/20/87	Wake Forest	R
21	DeMarcus Nelson	G	6-4 | 200	11/02/85	Duke	1
22	Taj Gibson	F	6-9 | 225	06/24/85	USC	R
25	Julius Hodge	F/G	6-7 | 210	11/18/83	North Carolina State	4
32	Brandon Costner	F	6-9 | 230	07/21/87	North Carolina State	R
35	Tyrell Biggs	F	6-8 | 235	08/07/86	Pittsburgh	R
40	James Augustine	F/C	6-10 | 240	02/27/84	Illinois	2
42	Nick Lewis	F/C	6-11 | 240	04/20/83	San Diego	R
44	AD Vassallo	F/G	6-6 | 215	04/21/86	Virginia Tech	R
50	Luke Zeller	C	6-11 | 240	04/07/87	Notre Dame	R
54	Linton Johnson III	F	6-8 | 205	06/13/80	Tulane	6

I may or may not do a running diary for a game or two when I can.  Nonetheless, as you can probably tell by now, I’m as excited as a fat boy in a candy shop right now. When this time of year rolls around, I need my Bulls fix, and seeing new young guys getting their feet wet gets me juiced.

Bulls Lose Gordon, Looking Ahead

As many already know, the Detroit Pistons offered BG a deal worth $55 mil over 5 years. Overpaying for a sixth man? Maybe. But BG is one of the best sixth men in the league. I’m not sure how Joe Dumars is going to handle another log jam of very talented guards; Rip, Stuckey, and now BG are all capable of filling up the stat sheet and will create problems for other teams guard rotations.

For the Bulls, losing your number one scorer is always going to hurt. Gordon has been our highest scorer for the past 4 years and will continue to do well for a division rival.

At this point, we need to look ahead and quickly. Making a quick signing of a good guard, not necessarily a big name guy but somebody who can make shots, is a priority.

Overall, if we stand pat, I see it as:
Rose (35), Hinrich (13)
Salmons (25), Hinrich (15), Rose (8)
Deng (30), Salmons (10), Tyrus (5), Johnson (3)
Tyrus (25), Noah (7), Johnson (8), Deng (5), Gibson (3)
Noah (28), Miller (16), Gibson (4)

Looking at it, Hinrich, Rose, and Salmons are going to need to log major minutes all season if we want to compete. It’s going to be tough to hang with teams in the East if we have a major injury to the backcourt. Or even foul trouble for one of these three will provide lots of playing time to an unproven scrub.

A signing of a one year, productive, SG would be ideal at this point. Options are limited, but there are some. Luther Head, Flip Murray, Dahntay Jones, Rashad McCants, could all fill the need.

If we stand pat, we’re looking forward to a lot of games where we have horrendous droughts of scoring. Being the pessimist, if someone comes down with an injury, the season goals might change from competing for a championship to competing for the number 1 pick.

My thinking is that GarPax bring this team, plus a minor signing or two, into the season and become big players come the trade deadline. With valuable assets such as Tyrus, Noah, and Deng, and plenty of expiring contracts, we’ll have plenty of options and a lot of flexibility when it comes to making a trade.

The 4th Quarter Home Run Official Bracket

Click here for my bracket

My bracket has a few upsets but that’s what I love about the tourney. It’s not fun to have a bracket with no upsets and no underdog to root for.

This year, I picked two underdogs, Northern Iowa and Siena. Northern Iowa caught my eye in the MVC Championship against Illinois State, when they hit three after three and continued to nail down the coffin in OT. The composure and shooting ability of the squad made me think they could be this years dark horse to go to the sweet sixteen or elite eight.

I got them in the sweet sixteen over Purdue and then beating Washington before falling to UConn.

My second dark horse pick, Siena. Elite eight.

You read that right, I have Siena beating the top overall seed, Louisville.

I’ve been called crazy, I’ve been told I was high on all sorts of illicit drugs, I’ve been told I need to have my bracket making rights taken away from me. But that’s the beauty of it all. This is the time of year to make a statement, do something bold and pick a team and stick with them. If you’re right, it’s the best thing in the world. Your living on cloud nine.

But if you’re wrong, prepare for the scolding of friends for weeks afterwards.

I’m either going to win my pool, or come in dead last. And I’m OK with it. In the words of the great Ricky Bobby, If you’re not first, you’re last.

I’m excited as hell for this and nothing is going to stop me from having a good time. My bracket could be done by day 2, but that’s not what I care about. Say my bracket does blow up. I don’t care, I usually stop looking at my bracket -whether I’m doing well or not- by the elite 8 because I get so into the intensity of the games and what’s at stake. That’s madness for ya.

The Ultimate Instant Classic: Syracuse outlasts UConn 127-117 in 6 OTs

Someone has got to tell this kids that the NCAA Tournament doesn’t start for another week.

I was just about to go to bed when I turned on the game expecting to see the end and hopefully the final of the game. Only it was about 2 hours later when the game actually went final.

In a game that had all the characteristics of an all-time classic tournament game, Syracuse pulled out the win in a sextuple (6)- Overtime thriller. Thriller doesn’t quite do it in this situation. If you’re a Syracuse fan, this is the greatest game of all time. If you’re a UConn fan, well let’s not talk about it.

The madness began at the end of regulation. With Syracuse up by 2 with only a few seconds remaining UConn freshman guard, Kemba Walker, gobbled up an offensive rebound and put back a layup to tie it with 1.1 left on the clock.

The monstrous UConn center, Hasheem Thabeet was told to guard the inbound pass when Syracuse guard, Johnny Flynn, attempted to set a screen on the big man but instead got steam rolled. What appeared to be a foul that would have sent Flynn to the line, was not called. The following baseball pass as deflected right into the hands of Syracuse gaurd Eric Devendorf. What happene,d next blew everyone’s minds. Devendorf rose and fired a three pointer as time expired that was nothing but nylon from the wing. The ultimate buzzerbeater that would send them onward in the Big East Tournament. . .if it counted.

After review of the shot, which is mandatory for all shots that go in with zero remaining time on the clock, the refs ruled the shot would not count and that we were going to overtime. And boy was it close. The closest of close.

But in the fine words of Happy Gilmore, we’ve only just begun.

I’ll skip the many many events that happened between the end of regulation and the end of the actual game. Why? Well for one, way too much had gone on for me to remember it all. All you need to know is that they went back and forth for way to long and needed 6 overtimes to achieve a winner. At this point finding a winner was absolutely an acheivment.

First overtime, Syracuse down 2 with only seconds remaining, Flynn drives and gets double teamed down low. He drops it off to Rick Jackson he hits the wide open layup to tie it up and send it to overtime number 2.

Fast forward to overtime number 5.

Hasheem Thabeet fouled out in the 4th overtime, so he was living large on the bench with fellow foul-outs Stanley Robinson and Gavin Edwards. Even without the talented big men, Uconn still jumped out to an early lead behind A.J. Price and fantastic hustle by Jeff Adrien.  But Johnny Flynn would not let his team go out after playing for that long. Single handedly, drving and getting to the bucket at will, Flynn clawed back and finally tied it with 15.1 seconds left.

With a chance to win it, Price gets off a contest three which clanks off the side of the iron. But Adrien grabs the board and gets a fairly open baseline jumper that just misses off the back of the iron…..6.

This is too much. At this point I’m half expecting these guys to just drop down on the bench and call it quits. Maybe we should postpone the rest of the game until the morning. We are just watching these guys sloth around at this point.

6th overtime (6, think about that one for a second,) opens and Syracuse comes out and nails a three to start it off. Their first lead of any overtime. They follow this with a layup to open up a quick 5 point lead. At this point UConn shows how fatigued they are, as they settle for three straight contested threes.

In a mildly amusing chain of events, Syracuse forward, Paul Harris goes up for a dunk and gets completly stuffed by the rim. Without missing a beat, he grabs his own rebound and hits the layup and a foul. 8 point lead for Syracuse.

UConn keeps shooting bad three pointers early in the shot clock and can’t buy a bucket as Johnny Flynn hits free throw after free throw to ice the game.  Final score 127-117 in favor of the Orange.

Greatest, longest, most ridiculous, rollercoster ride of a game I have ever watched. If you’re ever bored at home in the middle of the afternoon, head over to ESPN Classic because odds are you will see this game being replayed over and over again. I’m exhausted just watching it.

Big NFL Names Hit Free Agency

Marvin Harrison finds himself looking for a new team after the Colts released him. (Courtesy AP)

Marvin Harrison, Laveranues Coles, Kurt Warner, Brian Dawkins, and newest names coming up in trades Matt Cassell and Jay Cutler.

Cassell, traded Saturday to the Chiefs along with Mike Vrabel, was one of the most talked about players coming into the off-season. With his stellar play in place of injured Tom Brady, Cassell earned him self the franchise tag from the Pats meaning he would earn the average of the top 5 salaries of quarterbacks in the NFL. Apparently the Pats were convinced Brady would be fine come next season, so they shipped Cassell out.

Rumors have it that the Broncos were shopping their talented young QB Jay Cutler in talks for Cassell. When Cutler received wind of this rumor he was not a happy camper. Sources say that Cutler is seriously ticked with the organization and is close to demanding a trade to play elsewhere.

Another surprise is the announcement of Laveranues Coles being released by the Jets. After a very good year with Brett Favre, Coles is sent packing and, like many Americans right now, found himself looking for a job. Coles isn’t the only number 1 receiver looking for work. Longtime Peyton Manning favorite, Marvin Harrison was sent packing by the Colts just a few days ago.

Derrick Brooks reacts to being released by the Bucs (Courtesy AP)

With the economy the way it is right now, you see many teams hesitant to spend cash on big time free agents and instead find themselves cutting talented players in order to save a few bucks. Take the Tampa Bay Bucs, they cut 5 big name players. Ike Hilliard, Joey Galloway, Warrick Dunn, Derrick Brooks, and June Cato all got yanked and now the Bucs are in pretty good shape salary wise. Talent wise? We’ll see coming Week 1.

Kurt Warner is said to be in talks with the 49ers this weekend, whether he lands there or not seems up in the air. Personally, I think there is no way in hell that he ends up there. Warner is old. Warner is going to play for a good team or he’s going to hang it up. Think about it, if you’re Kurt Warner, you just lost in the Super Bowl and are close to the end of your career. What on Earth would provoke you to join often pants-less, Mike Singletary, and the 49ers?

Brian Dawkins, former safety for the Eagles, bolted to Denver leaving Philly hurting in the leadership department. Dawkins is a huge pickup for the Broncos who had one of the worst secondaries in the league last year.

Marvin Harrison is up for grabs right now, but his age is a big factor in who he will be picked up by and for how much. Another question teams are asking is how productive will Harrison be without the chemistry he and Peyton Manning had, contributing to many of Harrison’s receptions.

Free Agency has opened with a bang, but there are still many big time players out there searching for a team. Figuring out where all these guys will land is like figuring out all the digits in π. This should make for some interesting signings in the days to come.

(4) Pitt Knocks Off (1) UConn

DeJuan Blair overpowers Hasheem Thabeet

DeJuan Blair certainly put his name in for the running of Big East Player of the Year, if he wasn’t being considered already, with 22 points and a career high 23 boards to propel (4) Pittsburgh over top ranked Connecticut.

Blair established early that this was going to be a physically tough game, and the only thing that was standing in the way of Pitt’s 24th win would be UConn center, Hasheem Thabeet. But Blair wasn’t going to let the 7 foot Thabeet get the best of him. Early in the game, Blair viciously ripped down a board while Thabeet’s arm was still around the ball. Thabeet, refusing to yield to the 6’7 265 pound Blair, tangled up with Blair and eventually flipped over him as he emphatically snatched the ball away:

The crowd at the XL Center in Connecticut held its collective  breath as it watched Thabeet grimace in pain walking toward the sidelines injured. But just three minutes later, Thabeet reentered the game and emphatically dunked, showing he was feeling fine and ready to get back to work.

Thabeet wasn’t the only marquee big man to go down with an injury. With about 9 minutes left in the second half, Blair was under the basket working for an offensive rebound as he received an unintentional elbow from Stanley Robinson. Blair went straight to the sidelines where he would sit for the next 2 minutes.

The game continued to be a grudge match between these two contenders as many long rebounds and loose balls ended up with a scrum to decide which team was going to get possession. All game, players were diving around risking their bodies for the ball, even the big fella Thabeet dove on a few occasions.

Pitt forward, Sam Young and UConn gaurd, A.J. Price went back and forth hitting shot after shot and turned the battle of the big men into a shootout. Young got the best of Price as he finished with 25 points while Price had 18. 15 of Price’s 18 points came in the first half, but when UConn needed points down the stretch, they got it from freshman Kemba Walker and senior Jeff Adrien.

The second half was a back and forth battle until about 3 minutes left in the game. Both teams were nodded up at 63 as Levance Fields, zero points off of 7 shots so far, hit back to back threes to put Pitt ahead for good. Pitt held on for their 24th win of the season, 76-68.

Thabeet fouled out and finished with one of his poorer outings so far this seasn with only 5 points and 4 rebounds. He was a non-factor on defense as he only had 2 blocked shots.

In my preview of this game, I said UConn needed A.J. Price to have a big game if UConn wanted to win.

Check.

I also said, DeJuan Blair needed to go right at Thabeet if Pitt wanted a chance at the W.

Check.

Well, something had to give in this situation, and clearly Blair and Young just overpowered UConn and positioned themselves nicely in the upcoming weeks leading up to the tournament.

This isn’t the last time we’ll see these two squads go head-to-head. They meet again in Pittsburgh on March 7th. Expect another back and forth battle as it is the last game of the season for both teams before March Madness begins.

(4) Pitt – (1) UConn Preview

Courtesy AP

A heavyweight battle between two of the top ranked teams in the nations, the University of Connecticut Huskies and the University of Pittsburgh Panthers, ranked first and fourth in the nation respectively.

The Huskies sport a record of 24-1 on the year including 11-0 at home. Their challengers are the Panthers who have a 23-2 record, with their 2 losses coming from road games.

This game is shaping up to be a battle of big men as UConn’s Hasheem Thabeet and Pitt’s DaJuan Blair go head-to-head in this Big East matchup. Blair does most of his damage scoring down low and ripping down boards for the Panthers, whereas Thabeet’s forte would be his incredible shot-blocking ability.

Others looking to produce in this big game include UConn’s Jeff Adrien, A.J. Price, and freshman Kemba Walker. These three have been key components in Connecticut’s 24 wins and will need to produce against the big three from Pitt; Sam Young, Levance Fields, and Jermaine Dixon.

My pick to click in this game is A.J. Price for Uconn. With Jerome Dyson likely out for the season, Price will need to take over what has left with Dyson’s absence. Price has shown he can handle the pressure of a close game and can be a playmaker and a go to player down the stretch if need be.

Courtesy AP

For Pitt, DaJuan Blair is big in this game. He is big in all games, but if he can bang down low with his sturdy frame, against Thabeet and get him in foul trouble early, that can really open it up for the Pittsburgh offense. Thabeet is coming of a career best tying 9 blocked shots and has changed countless shots this entire year. Young, Fields, and Blair could power through the Huskies if Thabeet struggles early.

This one is a big one, with the top 25 being moved around so many times this year, this could solidify or slip either team’s spot in the tournament come March. Tip off is 7 Eastern on ESPN.

Honoring a Legend, Johnny Red Kerr

Courtesy AP

Tuesday, February 10, 2009 was officially named Johnny “Red” Kerr Appreciation Day by Mayor Daly. And appreciate we did.

The 22-29 Bulls were set to host the 27-22 Detroit Pistons in a Central Division battle, but that wasn’t the main attraction on Tuesday night. The main attraction took place during halftime of this game, when all in attendance at the United Center stopped what they were doing and paid their respects to the lifelong NBA man, Johnny “Red” Kerr.

Johnny Greg Kerr was born July 17, 1932 in none other than Chicago, Illinois. Johnny was a Chicago boy through and through; he played high school basketball at Tilden Technical High School, college ball at University of Illinois, coached the first ever Chicago Bulls team, and announced Bulls games for over 30 years.

At Tilden Tech, Johnny was a soccer player until he had a 9 inch growth spurt. This growth inspired Johnny to play basketball where he led the varsity team to the 1950 Chicago Public League Championship title and later graduated and moved on to the University of Illinois.

After graduating Tilden Tech, Johnny played for the Illini Varsity Basketball team, compiling 1,299 career points in his three seasons. He led the squad to the 1952 Big Ten Championship and even got them to the NCAA Final Four.

“Red” was drafted 6th overall in the 1954 NBA Draft by the Syracuse Nationals, who now go by the Philadelphia 76ers. He won the NBA title in his first season, was a 3-time All-Star, and was known as The Iron Man because at one point he played 844 consecutive games. He was drafted by the Bulls in the 1996 Expansion Draft, but decided to trade in his sneakers and jersey for a clipboard and tie. He was the first ever coach for the Chicago Bulls and led them to the playoffs in their first season, winning NBA Coach of the Year honors. But just two years later, left the team.

Johnny made his triumphant return to the Bulls organization in 1974 as a color commentator. Kerr had a great relationship with all the Bulls players, but Michael Jordan and him bonded like none of the others. Jordan’s pregame ritual, eerily similar to what Lebron James now does before games, was to clap a hand full of rosin powder in Johnny’s face.  Johnny held the color commentator position for 32 years before hanging it up after the 2008 season due to health complications.

Courtesy AP

The Tuesday night presentation started out with a grand slideshow showing pictures of Kerr ranging from when he was a little boy, all the way to his last few years courtside, broadcasting. After the slideshow, now Bulls lead broadcaster, Neil Funk addressed the crowd and introduced Kerr’s friends and family. In attendance were: former players Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and now radio broadcaster Bill Wennington; fellow broadcasters Wayne Larrivee, Tom Dore, Tom Boerwinkle, Jim Durham, and Stacey King; and others there to celebrate Kerr’s long career.

David Stern said during a taped video stated, nobody but Kerr had “The love and respect he had for the game, but more importantly had the love and respect the game had for him.”

Kerr’s teammate on the Syracuse Nationals, Dolph Schayes stated, “Johnny was the finest high post center ever,” and also said, “Nobody loved the game more than he did”.

Jim Durham, Kerr’s broadcast partner for almost 20 years said, “Johnny was in the game when Havlicek stole the ball, and called the game when Jordan hit the shot over Ehlo.” Durham said Kerr was as close as you can get to two of the greatest moments in NBA history and ended his speech with, “We love you, Redman“.

Fellow Illinois alum and current owner of the Phoenix Suns, Jerry Colangelo, presented Kerr with the John W. Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award, the most prestigious award given out by the Basketball Hall of Fame. This is when Kerr started to get a little emotional.

To many cheers from the fans in the seats, former Bulls guard and good friend of Kerr, Scottie Pippen stated, “Johnny made Chicago Bulls Basketball what it is today”.

Receiving even more cheers, Michael Jordan went over to Kerr’s “pimped out” Bulls wheelchair and did his ritual clapping of rosin powder in Kerr’s face. Probably not the greatest idea to clap chalk in the face of a sickly old man, but it’s “Red”, he’s the original iron man. Jordan claimed, “Johnny made my career,” and that, “The one constant thing about the Chicago Bulls was Johnny Red Kerr”.

Ceremony MC, Neil Funk, announced there was one last special guest speaker not in attendance, cueing the crowd and Kerr to the video screen. To everyone’s surprise, President Barack Obama taped a short speech talking about how much Kerr meant to Chicago. Obama conveyed that, “Kerr was the fan on the bar stool next to us”.

Former broadcast partner and current Bulls GM came out to present the collage of pictures from throughout Kerr’s career and to present the statue depicting Kerr holding a microphone during his broadcast years.

Johnny’s son, Matt Kerr, very emotionally read a speech in honor of his father, before handing the microphone over to the man of the hour. In his weakened voice, a very skinny and frail looking Kerr proclaimed that, “This is the happiest day of my life,” in all sincerity. Stammering at times, Kerr told the sold out crowd, “Most of all I will miss this hardwood floor at the United Center.”

At this point, there couldn’t have been more than a few people in the building with dry eyes, seeing this legend grabbing the microphone even though he stated he was too weak to talk.

Johnny Red Kerr truly is an Iron Man, and although he won’t live forever on Earth, he’ll live forever in the hearts of fans everywhere.