Before Australian big men became familiar fixtures in the NBA, there was Luc Longley. Towering at 7-foot-2, Longley carved out a quiet but impactful legacy for the Chicago Bulls during one of basketball’s most cherished eras.
He wasn’t flashy and rarely made headlines, but for three straight championship runs with Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and the rest of the Bulls dynasty, Longley was the anchor in the paint.
Advertisement
And yet, despite his contributions, his departure from the game never matched the triumphs he helped deliver.
The sad exit
Luc’s final NBA season was a far cry from the glory days in Chicago. After stops with the Phoenix Suns and New York Knicks, his career came to an end in 2001 with a slow, painful fade brought on by a degenerative condition in his left ankle.
“Just having a physical breakdown and not being able to function as an NBA player at that level. I think that was a difficult time for Luc because it didn’t end well,” former Bulls coach Phil Jackson said, reflecting on Longley’s departure from the game.
Advertisement
“You like to end on an up note and when physically you basically have to leave the game because of your physical disability, it leaves a hollow feeling in you,” he added.
Longley was just 32 years old. The physical demands of the league had taken their toll. Years of battling in the post, setting bone-jarring screens and carrying the expectations of a championship pedigree finally wore him down.
That hollow feeling lingered not only for Longley but for the people who coached him, worked beside him and understood how quietly essential he had been. In the 1995–96 season, Jackson named Longley the Bulls’ starting center, marking a turning point in both the big man’s career and the team’s frontcourt stability.
Advertisement
He started 74 games that season, helping Chicago to an NBA-record 72 wins. His presence was often understated, but the results were not. By the end of the Bulls’ second three-peat, Longley had become the first Australian to win an NBA title — and remains the only one to have won three.
It was a sharp contrast to how it all ended.
After averaging just 2.4 points and 2.1 rebounds in 25 games for the Knicks, Longley knew the writing was on the wall. The body that once held its ground against the likes of Shaquille O’Neal and Patrick Ewing had simply given out.
Longley letting go
Following the Bulls’ disbandment after the 1997–98 season, Luc was part of the exodus.
Advertisement
In a sign-and-trade deal, he was sent to Phoenix. There, his role diminished and his body began to betray him. Over two seasons with Phoenix, Longley played in just 139 games, his averages slipping each year. By the time he was traded to the Knicks before the 2000–01 season, it was clear the end was approaching.
“It’s always hard to leave something that’s like that — activity, camaraderie, competition, things you can measure yourself up against,” Jackson said. “So those are really hard and retiring from professional sports is a very difficult thing to do.”
That transition is rarely discussed in detail, especially when the player isn’t a headline-grabbing superstar. For someone like Longley, who did his job with humility and rarely sought attention, the descent into retirement was almost silent. No press conferences, no jersey tributes, just an aching ankle and a quiet exit.
In many ways, Luc’s legacy slipped through the cracks. Despite being a three-time champion, he was notably absent from “The Last Dance” documentary, which chronicled the Bulls’ dynasty. It wasn’t until years later that fans and media began to reassess his value and acknowledge his contributions to one of the greatest teams in NBA history.
Advertisement
Across 567 career games, Longley averaged 7.2 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game — not Hall-of-Fame numbers, but the kind that spoke to consistency and team-first basketball. During the Bulls’ second three-peat, he started in all but 12 games, often tasked with setting screens, boxing out and doing the kind of dirty work that doesn’t show up in highlight moments but wins championships.