Who has the most to PROVE for Chicago Bulls in 2025-26? | By The Horns

Who has the most to PROVE for Chicago Bulls in 2025-26? | By The Horns

What’s up everybody? It’s great to be back with you once again. Welcome into the By the Horns podcast presented by Toyota. Toyota has more all-wheel drive and four-wheel drive vehicles than any other brand. So find yours and shine on. Toyota, let’s go places. Cam Smith and it feels good to be back with my man Casey Johnson as we give some more Bulls news and updates as we go through this off season. We’re getting closer and closer to not only media day, but training camp towards the end of the month. And you see the big smile on Casey if you’re joining us on CHSN’s YouTube page on By the Horns. And I’m smiling as well because when you hear that, Casey, you’re like, “Yes, we can finally get to some some more current things and breaking things down and seeing how it goes with this team.” But how you doing, Casey? I’m doing great. And yeah, we’re uh just over a week out from uh media day and training camp. So we’ll have uh other people’s opinions to dissect and uh play to discern uh very soon. It’s been a long off season. That’s what happens when you are eliminated in midappril, but uh we appreciate our listeners and viewers hanging around for the ride. So we’ll be uh we’ll be diving into next season pretty soon. And I’m going to say what I’m rocking right now with this hoodie was sort of intentional, but maybe it’s just more so of just trying to get out of the offseason. But this is a a nice hoodie that I’m rocking if you’re joining us on YouTube. So my man Kendall Hearns and his company Robotic Minds. This is a nice look to an old school Michael Jordan photo of him doing Michael Jordan things and just, you know, doing some creative things in terms of the makers of this hoodie. So Casey, I threw this on because I’m like, “All right, I I need something to continue to carry me through this off season as we get ready for media day and training camp, but you know, we’re getting there. It’s been a long off season, so let’s do this, Casey, as we prepare for those moments towards the end of the month and focus in on this Bulls roster.” And Casey and I were kicking around ideas for this week’s pod. And it was a great suggestion by KC of us getting to circle in on three players respectively from Casey and I that we feel have the most to prove for the 2526 season. So might be a little overlap, but Casey are going to and I are going to collab on that overlap, but it’ll be interesting to see, you know, who we go with and who we choose. So, I will go with my guy Casey to start us off for this list that we have and we’re going to go through our and really unveil our our names that that we go with. So, Casey, start us off. Yeah, we did not compare notes before uh taping this. So, I wonder if we I’m pretty sure we’re gonna have two out of the three. I wonder if we’re gonna have three out of three. I got uh my list is Josh Giddy. Okay. Yeah. Williams. Yep. and Kobe White. Oh, two out of three, Casey. Two out of three. So, good. We want We want a little difference. We want a little difference. There we go. There we go. So, I I have Josh Giddy. I have P Will, but I’m actually swapping out Kobe. And I was thinking about going with Kobe, but I’m like, you know what? I’m going to go with Io. IO for me and I get it coming off a career year last year and I don’t want to go into all the details with the reason why I feel that IO has the most to prove this season but I think it for a lot of people that hear that name and I saw the reaction from Casey. It’s an interesting pick with me going with IO. So go ahead and start us off and let’s get into this conversation with Josh Kitty. I know that he’s uh hasn’t signed it officially yet, but at least agreed to that four-year $100 million deal. And we had our last pod and breaking it down in terms of the numbers, but also the numbers for Josh Giddy on the court that we saw since the All-Star break. A guy that averaged nearly a triple double, but now he has stability, right? And just a little breath of fresh air when you have that contract in place. Um, and again, it’s not officially signed yet, everyone, but the deal has been agreed to. So it allows Giddy to go into this training camp this upcoming season. One with elevated confidence. I would say he always a guy that you know never lack confidence, but also it just helps when you have things in place financially and with your career in terms of your contract that can allow you to grow even more as a player. And that’s what we saw from Josh Giddy this past season. Casey. Yeah, absolutely, Cam. And I, you know, I reported last week on on this podcast that, uh, he was coming in from Australia to sign that contract in person. Uh, you know, obviously international tra sometimes hits some some visa snags, etc. So, it’ll it’ll still happen. The contract’s been agreed to, but I don’t think Penn has been put to paper as of this taping. But look, on the one hand, you could say like, okay, the dude got paid. He’s set. He’s got four years of guaranteed money at a nice price of, you know, total package of 100 million. But on the other hand, uh I my my focus is he’s number one for me and here’s why. Yeah. Um at the end of last season in the exit interview, we Sam Smith, I said this last week, you know, I asked him, you know, which Josh Giddy uh do are we going to are the Bulls fans going to get next year? The one that started the first half of the season or the one that closed the season as we you mentioning almost averaging a triple double and he’s obviously going to pick the latter one, but that’s what that’s what you’ve got to see. I mean, you you’re he’s he’s put in a position now where I don’t really think many other franchises in the league would employ Josh Giddy in the way the Bulls are going to employ him. And what you want to see is that continued um aggressiveness at both sides really that happened from the Zack Lavine trade on where the ball was clearly in his hands. He was running the show. Um stopped shooting that floater, got to the line more. Can he still shoot that three ball at the 37% clip than he did last season? Yeah. Can he continue to show the signs uh improve signs defensively where he had more physicality, fought over screens, uh much more aggressively, etc., etc. So, you could say, okay, he got his money, he’s good. No, to me, he’s in the crosshairs and the spotlight’s on him. And knowing Josh and being around Josh, he wants that smoke. He wants that responsibility. He wants that spotlight on him because he really believes he’s he has a chance to be an elite player in this league, you know, all-star level player in this league. So, here’s your here’s your platform. And to me, it’s in a situation that he would not have in too many other franchises in the league where he’s going to be given the keys to this fast-paced Billy Donovan engine or car. And uh let’s see what he can do with it. Yeah. and Casey, we we know this that everyone in the NBA for the majority are are competitors in terms of the players on the court and just what they’re trying to bring to the court. So Josh Giddy understands, as you mentioned, that he’s going to be in the crosshairs. He’s going to be in a lot of radars for opposing players because they see him, they see the contract, and a lot of guys are going to start to compare themselves in terms of trying to get their next deal or trying to use that as a reference point when they try to uh attain a certain leverage when it comes to their negotiations. So, he understands that, all right, I know the guys are going to attack me, right? Because I’m a guy that’s on a four-year hundred million dollar deal. Yes, I was the talk of the of the city of Chicago and definitely in parts of the NBA. You have to agree on that when it comes to what happened after that Lakers game of him hitting that half court shot. And it opened up some eyes in terms of Josh Giddy really rebounding from what we saw in the first half of the season. And really if you throw it back to uh before he came to Chicago in that final season with the Thunder where he was really kind of out of the rotation um at least the starting group uh for that team and Mark Dagnal. So he understands that he has to come into the 2526 season even better than what we saw last season as a whole. Now I know we keep going back and I keep mentioning what we saw post allstar break and him averaging nearly a triple double but I I always view that in two ways CC. one, a guy coming into a new situation, new teammates, new city, new feel. He has to adjust. And it took Josh a little longer to adjust to that. I mean, let’s be honest about this. He He’s a human and basketball players have to adapt to certain roles um with a certain team and you have to look at the makeup of that Bulls team in the first half of the season with Zack Lavine there. Of course, Josh having a different role. Obviously, Kobe White and just them trying to find themselves with this offense in Billy Donovan and also Josh trying to find his spot because he came in, I think, with a chip on his shoulder saying, “Okay, well, I want to go out and prove that I am not the guy that you saw in OKC that was out of the starting lineup that a lot of people started to, you know, speak negatively about him and about his game. So, I think that added pressure on him forced him into some uncharacteristic things. But once he was able to relax second half of the season, get his feet underneath him, obviously the trade of Zack Lavine. So, everyone has different roles, not only in Josh Giddy, but also Kobe White as well, and we’ll talk about him in a little bit. But when you have the trust of your head coach and you have the trust of your teammates, and not to say that Billy Donovan and the Bulls did not trust Josh Giddy pre-allar break, but it’s more so being in that position where it’s like, look, we want you to really take the reigns of this offense and move us forward. Let’s see what you do you can do. And as a former Hooper KC, when a coach tells you like, you have the ball, it’s your show, you can kind of lead us, you’re like, “Okay, bet. Let’s go ahead and let’s get it.” And that was Josh Giddy where we said last week on the last pod for By the Horns with Josh Giddy is that he stopped kind of jump passing in the air and really grinded out defenders to get to the rim and finish near the basket. And so I saw more of a aggressive Josh Giddy in the form where it was positive aggression where he wasn’t overthinking and jump passing. he was just being able to make plays and just honestly KC simplified the game for himself. Now, can he do that at another level for this upcoming season with this Bulls team? Because eyes are going to be on him and eyes are going to be on a number of guys on this roster in terms of how they can improve from last season. So, I’m 100% with you. Um Casey and Josh Gideon, just him being a target for a lot of guys. Yeah, and you make a good point about him that I hadn’t really thought about before is uh he’s talked about how when he first got here last year, his his natural tendency was to defer and to kind of make sure he fit in, you know, but I forgot that he was contrasting that with also trying to wash that bad taste out of his mouth of falling out of the playoff rotation his last postseason and OKC. And that’s a pretty jarring contrast. And you know, he’s talked a lot at length about how as the season progressed, he kind of found his footing. And then obviously the Zack Lavine trade, pushed it to another level. But to your point, man, if you’re a point guard and you’re Billy Donovan is playing this style and they say give you the ball, I mean, there’s no better other feel no better feeling uh than in NBA than than that. I mean, it’s like this is your show. Let’s run it, man. Yeah. I love to hear that, man. Then we have to, as I mentioned, the human aspect of it with Josh, because we don’t, I know you don’t do this. I don’t do this as well, Casey. We just don’t view these guys as just robots. They’re basketball players. They don’t have any emotions or no heart or just don’t go through things personally, but they do. And Josh is 22 years old, right? So, when that situation happened with OKC, this is a guy that was a lottery pick and was fed the belief that, hey, you’re a part of our foundation. You’re a part of our core moving forward. And then that changes and you really have to do some soularching when you’re out of that playoff rotation and out of that starting lineup. So I’m sure it took a hit to Josh’s confidence and really we all have egos in some sense whether small or big but it hit to his ego a little bit and say all right now I have to find myself with a new situation in a new city with a new coach, new system. How am I going to make this work? And so him uh admitting that he was deferring more, I I get that, right? Because he’s a young guy still trying to find himself. But as we mentioned, once he got the basketball in his hand, second half of the season, it was like, “All right, let’s let’s rock. Let me go ahead and do my thing.” So I’m really excited, and I don’t use that word light lightly. I’m really excited to see what Josh Giddy has in store for 2526. So Josh Giddy number one on our list. Casey and I collabing on that one. So, that’s the the first of three that we’re going to mention in terms of Bulls players that have the most to prove. KC, number two, Patrick Williams. I don’t know if he’s I don’t know if he’s number two in your list. I don’t know if he’s there, but he’s number two on my list. Oh, yeah. Yeah, definitely number two. Okay, great. All right, cool. To me, it’s like the biggest no-brainer in the history of no-brainers. I mean, only reason Josh is number one is cuz quite frankly, and this isn’t speaking ill of Patrick, but he’s more important to what the Bulls want to do. Um, you know, he’s a starter. Patrick doesn’t project to for sure be a starter number one. Uh, and then Josh can have the ball in his hands a lot more, but yeah, to me, Patrick Williams is the biggest no-brainer number two. And look, we’re going to be covering some old crowd here because it’s like every year we’re asking the same things. Can he stay healthy? number one which has really been out of his control and obviously he’s unfortunately suffered some pretty freak injuries but beyond the health I mean it’s the obvious one can he consistently impact games and it’s amazing to say that we’re coming up on year six but we are coming up on year six um and as I mentioned you know before you’re always kind of I always focused less on the draft position and didn’t really get hung up on that Some drafts are going to be historically better than others. Some are going to be weaker than others. That one’s not proving to be probably the best draft of all time. And it’s kind of obviously coincidental that the pick right behind him now is on the Bulls and Isaac Aoro. But um it’s just beyond all that like your expectations before were coming in being a starter, making this two-way presence felt, impacting the game. Now you’re just hoping he finds like some kind of consistent role. And that quite frankly might not even involve starting. Like I probably have him third as a potential starter behind Aoro and then maybe maybe Kevin Herder. Um you know Modest is going to be starting at four. Um so anyway, I’m kind of rambling a little bit here. No in generalities, but it’s just you you really want to see this this kid and he still is a kid uh consistently impact games at both ways because that’s what he was drafted to do. That’s what he has the body to do and that’s what he has the contract to do. Yes, he has all of the physical tools to go out and impact the game on both ends of the floor. Um, and I just like to be open with everyone because I pride myself on being authentic and authenticity always reigns supreme in my book, KC. And you brought up the draft position of him being drafted fourth overall and I get it with that draft and the impact of co um and just the injuries that really I believe stunted Patrick Williams growth but at that time for that Bulls team at that time bear with me Bulls fans listen to what I’m saying. I like the pick of Patrick Williams at fourth overall with how that team construct was with him being brought along as more of a defensive guy. you didn’t expect to have him have a bigger role with that group in terms of offensively or just the expectation of it and I get it. Fourth overall, you’re expecting him to be one of the franchise changers, but with Demar Rosen, Zack Lavine, Nikovous, how that team was constructed, how it was made up, I thought it was a good fit. Now, as you move forward and you start to look at honestly him not meeting the potential and living up to that position where he was drafted, you still go into each season thinking, okay, maybe this is the season that Patrick Williams really turns it around. And it’s not like he for him offseason not putting the work in or adding to his game to be a better player. Injuries are part of it, but then also too, I think he just needs to find what his comfort level is with this group. And so with the exception, you talked about Josh Giddy and him signing that contract. He would have been number one on my list as well, Casey. So I’m with you on that. But I go back to the New York Knicks game that was earlier in the season last year when you look at the numbers for Patrick Williams. And not even just the numbers, right? Because when you really break that game down, November 13th, where he scored 18 points and had six rebounds, you go back to that final defensive possession and really some a lot of defensive possessions where he showed up, but the final defensive possession against Jaylen Brunson, we’re talking about AllNBA, clutch player, all those different awards, allstar that Jaylen Brunson is, and he gets the stop, right? It’s a one-on-one situation on the left side of the court. Brunson’s comfortable in any area of the court, but obviously with him against Patrick Williams with the size Pill didn’t back down. So watching that game, I’m like, that’s the guy. That’s him right there. If the Bulls can get that guy, then for sure he’s going to elevate himself, not only within this franchise, but the city of Chicago. And so what I want to see from Patrick Williams is more of that. a guy that’s a dog on both ends of the court, but then also just plays within the flow of the game and asserts himself into the flow of the game as well because you mentioned the physical tools that he has, he can get to it, and that’s what he has to really hone in on this upcoming season. So 25 26 for a guy last year that averaged nine points. I think that he could be a guy that could get double digits, double figures and probably half of those points would be coming from the free throw line just because of how he can attack with his aggression and his physical tools. Casey. Yeah. And Cam, you know, like playing time is not like um a given for him this season. I mean, you know, this this roster has been pretty sparse for forwards in the past, and I’m not saying it’s overflowing with him now, but I mean, Bonis Misellis is going to be your starting four, right? And so, it’s the question is, does Billy go, you know, Patrick and Modis together? Does he go Isaac Aoro for a def defensive presence? Um, and and Modis together, does he go three guards and start start Kevin Herder? And like you know, so you and don’t forget, I mean, Noah Si, we all agree, is is a project, but he’s also a lottery pick. So like if if he shows some potential or some pop early, like they’re going to probably ride that a little bit because like he’s probably a little bit more fits along their timeline now than than Patrick Williams. And so like I want to see how he responds to all of this. Um yeah, and we always say like we’re not like picking on him. it we it’s because we see the potential and the glimpses. It’s like just you need to see that more, right? And obviously health has played some part in it, but if he stays healthy, you’ve got to see him just consistently impact the game at both ends because he’s got the potential. We’ve seen it multiple times. Yeah, the potential is for sure there for Patrick Williams. And even going back to media day last season or before the season began and him sitting down with me oneon-one and he just said that he’s ready to hoop, right? Um, and I still believe that that’s always been the case for him, but it’s for this role, whatever that may be within this rotation for Billy Donovan, he he’s going to have to scrape and scrap for those minutes, Casey, to that point. And when you have that four group that is, you know, heavy, right? Heavy names, heavy amount of guys, young guys that want to make their mark, not only with this team, but also in the NBA, yeah, you you have to get after it. And so we’re going to see what Patrick Williams shows up for at training camp, what Patrick Williams shows up for an entire season, right? Um it’s the consistency level, but it’s also him just flipping that switch. Like if that switch can be flipped, Casey, then you’re like, “All right, that’s what everyone, including Patrick, has been waiting for. That that’s the guy that we can see with this roster moving forward and just bringing what he brings uh to that forward position.” All right, people. That brings us to the third player on our list for guys that have the most approved in 2526. And this is where Casey and I differ with this third guy. We agreed on Josh Giddy. We agreed on Patrick Williams. But come on now. Like we’re doing a show. We’re doing a pot. Like it wouldn’t be any fun if we agreed on all three, right? So I want to throw this name out with this Bulls guard group. And it’s curiosity that comes to mind when it comes to this player’s name because Iodumu is a guy Chicago and true and true. I’ve said on this podcast before that, you know, I’ve covered him since his high school days. Know him knowing his him and his family very well. Um, but was limited to 46 games last season because he had to undergo shoulder surgery. And for people that look back at that time, remember Casey, you know this better than anyone. Iowa was battling through that injury and continued to play through uh through it before we knew the severity of it and what it would require and that was season ending surgery. Um he’s a guy that has elevated every single year and last year was a career year for him when you think about points per game, rebounds, assists. He was right. We’ve always described him as the best downhill player on that Bulls roster last year, especially how he attacks the basket, but can get it done on the defensive end. And so, I’m choosing IO not as a knock to IO, but more so as with this group of guards that the Bulls have and what their future is moving towards. And let’s remember, this is the last year of IO’s contract. So, he’s going to be an unrestricted free agent in the off season after 25 26. So, how can he really put himself in a position for the future with this Bulls team? And we know with IO, he’s going to bring it night in night out. But the only thing that we saw drop off really truly with him was his lack of three-point shooting. And with this offense in Billy Donovan and how it fits as a chemistry, as an attack against opponents, you need to have guys off the ball that can knock down shots. and IO shot a career low from the three-point line this past all season or excuse me second career low at 32% uh last season and that’s just not him because we’ve seen the better parts of IO when you rewind it back to two years ago where he shot 40% from 3KC and it’s not because of lack of work is just him not being able to just hone in and transfer the work in practice and shoot around to the games but we know IO is always a worker I’m sure he’s put the time in this this offseason to really improve that number. But also, when you’re playing with a Kobe White, with a Josh Giddy, when you have Nikolovich on this roster, you’re going to have those opportunities where kickouts or dribble drives and you sliding over to the corner, they’re going to be open for you. And IO needs to knock down that shot so we can have that place within this future of this Bulls roster because Trey Jones this off seasonason signed a three-year deal. Casey, we talked about Josh Giddy with a four-year deal. We’re going to see what’s going to happen with Kobe White when it comes to how the Bulls negotiate that thing after the 25 26 season. Of course, the Bulls would love to get that deal done before the year is out and Kobe becomes an unrestricted free agent. But when you look at IO, who he is as a player, who he is as a leader for this team, he has to go out and remind people that, hey, I’m still the same guy. My health is good. you need to put my name and tattoo my name into the future for this team because I am that good. Yeah. And I mean he’s I mean there’s no wrong answers here and that’s certainly a viable candidate. I’ll just briefly touch on him before I get into my guy. I mean first of all let’s start with the fact um that he’s coming off the shoulder surgery. So that’s that’s a big one. And it just seems like every year like IO’s role seems to on paper diminish, right? I mean like you mentioned it’s not just Josh Giddy they resign. Trey Jones who we know is a Billy Donovan favorite and then you know Kobe’s going to be starting at that two guard. You know Kevin I know he’s more of a wing but he technically is listed as a guard. I mean this guard picture gets crowded in a hurry. So um you know what kind of role can I carve out for himself? Um especially coming off shoulder surgery. But the one big similarity that I’m glad you hit on with IO and Kobe, and this is why Kobe is my my choice, is they’re both in the contract year. And you know, Kobe’s obviously at a a little bit higher pay rate than than IO is. And my my selection of Kobe is twofold. It’s just the fact that he’s going into a contract year and headed for unrestricted free agency for the first time in his career after experiencing restricted free agency once and completely outplaying this contract uh team friendly contract that he signed. Um but the reason I’m focused on Kobe is all right. So he’s clearly going to be the starting two guard, right? And this is a guy that has had his role jacked and changed more than any player in his tenure with the Bulls. It’s okay. we’re going to bring him along slowly his rookie year and not give him entitlement minutes in the Jim Boen era and then boom, you know, he busts out late and then the next year, okay, we need him to be on the ball more. All right, here’s the ball. And then you sign Lonzo Ball and it’s like, okay, I mean, it’s like, is he a point guard? Is he a two guard? He’s just a hooper. And like, I want to see him coming into this year free of mind. He knows he’s going to be playing alongside Josh Kitty who’s going to have the ball in his hands a lot, but Kobe’s proven the ability to play off the ball or on the ball. I have really high expectations for Kobe White this year and the fact that he’s going into a contract year and has a potential to put up some nice numbers uh as you enter off season in 2026 with as many as 10 to 11 teams projecting with massive salary cap space. Uh, I think this is going to be a fascinating season for Kobe White and that’s why I think he’s got a lot to prove and typically when you put Kobe White similar to Iodumu again uh with something to prove, they keep just come at you with that relentlessness and uh usually kind of over over exceed your expectations. So, I’m excited to see what Kobe’s got for Bulls fans this year. And I feel like Kobe and I who are the leaders of this team, let’s just be real about it, right? But I mean, what they’ve been able to do, not only in the locker room, but we talked about and uh we’ve highlighted the the offseason workouts that these guys have had with each other. And it’s Kobe and I that are leading those workouts. So, they’re going to get right to it. And we know those two and they’re not, let me put this the right way. They’re focused on making sure that it’s not about individually them getting their numbers, but obviously helping the team improve and get better. But when you throw in that they’re going to be unrestricted free agents after the season, then that adds a little more to it. But these guys are not just motivated for that. These are hoopers as you describe with Kobe. And it’s the same thing with IO because IO’s not really a point guard. He’s not a two guard. They’re just hoopers. They just they just get it done, right? And so seeing those two really get after it is going to be a treat for Bulls fans throughout the season. And I think that they’re going to get it get it going early on because they’re dropping at the bit to get it going, but then also finishing out throughout the the regular season. Um, and just showing some some some great things and and making a lot of, you know, new memories in the United Center in that Bulls uniform. Speaking of KC, uh, memories and that Bulls uniform, the Chicago Bulls announced their second class for the Bulls Ring of Honor. So, if you remember the inaugural class, it was 12 names attached to it. Some guy named Michael Jordan, some guy named Phil Jackson. Happy birthday to Phil Jackson. 80th birthday as we record this podcast today. Scotty Pippen was involved with that. Dennis Robin was on that Ring of Honor too, as well as the 9596 Bulls team that went 72 and 10 and won the franchise’s fourth NBA title. But now this year as we get ready to uh experience the 2526 season. Um and side note, there’s going to be a lot of cool stuff going on at the United Center this year of course with the the Ring of Honor with this six class inductee and then you’re going to have the jersey retirement of Derek Rose. You’re going to have the Derrick Rose bobblehead night sprinkled throughout the regular season. So it’s going to be a great time to be at the UC but also more so as we speak on the Bulls honor uh with his ring of honor for the six names. So, I’ll throw them out. Johnny Bach, Bill Cartwright, Neil Funk, Horus Grant, John Paxton, and of course, Stormman Norman Van Leard, Mr. 48 Minutes of Intensity. Casey, you saw the news, you see the names. Um, it’s always great to give people that have helped laid the foundation and really brought a franchise or really a a a organization to prominence. And I love that the Bulls are doing this by recognizing these players, these coaches because they are Chicago Bulls. They are Chicagoans for sure for what they’re what they were able to do in the time with the organization. Yeah. And that’s really what uh you know uh Michael Rinorf’s aim with this Hall of Honor, a ring of honor, I apologize, uh has been. I mean, this was his brainchild, his idea. And you know, historically, this historically is not a franchise that retires numbers very easily, as we know with Derek about to be only the fifth retired in franchise history. But okay, so that’s less uh numbers. I mean, there’s a banner for Jerry Krauss, there’s a banner for Phil Jackson. So you you’ve honored seven people. That’s only one more uh uh person individually honored for a franchise that’s won six championships, right? So seven people honored, six championships. So, like Michael Rinor told me once like this is we just wanted a way to recognize people that have contributed to the rich history of this franchise. And obviously that sometimes goes beyond impacting a championship team as is the case with Norm Vanlier. But when you think of a guy like uh you know identifying with a city and a franchise and a style of play, I mean Norm is top of mind. So, the only the only small bummer with Norm is he didn’t go in with his backcourt mate Jerry Sloan who went in in the inaugural class. But, um, no, look, you could break down this list uh quickly or, you know, go on at length about it. I mean, it’s just there’s no wrong there’s no wrong choices here. I mean, these are all titans of the franchise’s history. You’ve got, you know, championship winners with Pax Horus and Bill and Johnny Bach and then, uh, you know, Jerry, I’m sorry, Norm Vanlier and, uh, Neil, you know, is so identifiable with that dynasty era as well. So, just I love this event. I love history. I love when history is recognized and, uh, I think it’s really cool that, you know, Michael Rinensorf came up with this idea and they’re doing it every other year so you’re not like hitting people over the head with it. Kind of makes it a little bit more special, too. Yeah, no doubt. And that will be Wednesday, November 22nd. They will be honored during the game uh between the Bulls and the Wizards. So, that’s going to be really cool. And just leading up to that, it’s going to be a lot of different events to recognize everyone that will be inducted into the Bulls Ring of Honor. The second class is really, really special. A number of ways. I mean, we had Bill Cartwright and Horus Grant on an episode of By the Horns a few episodes ago. So just hearing those stories about the championship years and how really they, you know, were a cohesive unit, especially Horus and Bill as front court mates is just always cool. And to see those guys get those flowers and get their flowers will be special. It’s always special when you can when you, as you mentioned, Casey, have these people that have helped this franchise become what it is and iconic and worldwide. To recognize them in front of the city of Chicago, it’s just it just makes it very, very sweet and very cool. Absolutely. I’ll be there. I know you will, too. Looking forward to that night. Definitely looking forward to that. All right, that will do it for this edition of the By the Horns podcast. For my man Casey Johnson, I’m Cam Smith. Thank you for everyone that has been tapping into the show. Whether you’re watching on YouTube or wherever you get your pods, we appreciate you. We’re getting closer to training camp midepptember. At the end of the September, we’re going to have a media day in training camp. So, hold tight bulls fans. We’re going to have more for you. Take care.

Cam Smith and KC Johnson pick three (four) Bulls with the most to prove in 2025-26, dive into Josh Giddey’s new role and contract context, debate Patrick Williams’ path to consistent impact, and weigh Ayo vs. Coby in a crowded guard room. Plus: thoughts on the Bulls’ Ring of Honor second class and what’s ahead for Media Day and camp.

By The Horns podcast is presented by Toyota!

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