When we received the email about Bulls tickets coming on sale, we started looking at our options. Because my son’s favorite player in the league right now is Luka Doncic, we checked the date of the Mavericks game; yes, it was a Saturday, actually December 10, 2022. We scooped them up… fricking arm and a leg, even for 300 level seats, you know, where the real fans sit. Anyways, no need to get any more games if I’m going to pay that much so far in advance; I’ll scoop any others closer to game night. So yeah, we made a whole day of it, stopping at the Walnut Room for Christmas lunch/dinner before the game. We didn’t tell him, so he was completely surprised when we parked by the UC; that was the good surprise. Once inside, we found out that Luka Doncic would not be playing in this one. Although that was a good thing for the Bulls, it was bad for us… and oh yeah, the rest of the dozens of people with Doncic jerseys. That sucked.
Supposedly he was hurt; quad injury? Give me a break. He was resting. The Mavs had a late game the night before vs the Bucks, which they lost btw. Luka wanted a night off; they granted it, and why not… everybody does that nowadays. Thing is, what about all those fans wanting to see you play that night you decide to take off? My son was not happy; I even let him wear his Doncic t-shirt under his Bulls jersey (23). All the people at the UC on Saturday night wanting to see this superstar play; can you imagine the folks from Dallas that made the trip, picked THIS specific game, and he doesn’t play?!?! I’d be super pissed then. Yeah, these guys today… they’re not cut from the same cloth as the ones I grew up watching; of course, one guy in particular comes to mind.
How many people across the NBA cities went to see the Bulls play back in the late 80s & 90s for one reason, and one reason only: to see Michael Jordan play. He knew it too; he knew when he stepped on the court, he wanted to show all those people that came to see him, that they spent their money wisely. 30 a night man… all season long, PLUS a crazy ass highlight or two every, single, game. I don’t care how many MJ highlights you’ve seen in your lifetime, you haven’t seen them all. We were spoiled… watching him night in night out… not only play every game, but play at the highest level, even for that regular season road game after a back to back (back then, back to back to back!), or in the middle of the week vs a bum team in a blizzard. Yeah, Mike punched the clock, just about every single game; need some backup for that statement?
How many regular season games did MJ miss during his last 3 seasons with the Bulls? The answer is NONE… zip, zero, zilch, nada. If you bought a ticket to go see the Bulls during that timeframe, you saw MJ, period. OK, but what about before that… if I must… rookie season, all 82 games. 2nd year… only 17… because he BROKE his ankle!!! Remember, he FOUGHT to come back early, and play since he felt better, ruining the Bulls draft chances, helping the team make the playoffs, allowing us to see 63 in the Garden. OK, 3rd year… all 82 games. 4th year… all 82 games! In the 87-88 season, yeah, he didn’t play all the games; he missed ONE game!!! I’d have to research why that was. That’s OK though; the next 2 seasons, all 82 again! In the 2nd and 3rd year of the 1st 3 peat, he missed 2 and 4 games respectively; again, would like to research why. Still, not too shabby. So the most he missed other than a broken ankle, or mid-season return from retirement, was 4 games??? once??? Facts baby.
My son knows this… haha. I reminded him of this on Saturday night at the UC, expressing my disappointment in Doncic not playing. He said, OK, dad… he’s not Michael Jordan… that’s damn right… nobody is! Oh yeah, the Bulls kicked ass vs a Doncic-less Maverick team. I like Luka too, but on this night, he turned out to be a big old bust… I’ll still take that Bulls W though; we need all those we can get. Go Bulls!!!
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