2002–03 Chicago Bulls season

2002–03 Chicago Bulls season
Head coach	Bill Cartwright
General manager	Jerry Krause
Owner(s)	Jerry Reinsdorf
Arena	United Center
Results
Record	30–52 (.366)
Place	Division: 6th (Central) Conference: 12th (Eastern)
Playoff finish	Did Not Qualify
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
Television	Fox Sports Net Chicago, WGN, WCIU
Radio	WMVP

The 2002–03 Chicago Bulls season was the 37th season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Bulls finished sixth in the Central Division with a 30-52 record. They also posted a franchise worst road record of 3-38.

NBA Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	School/Club Team
1	2	Jay Williams	PG	United States	Duke
2	31	Roger Mason, Jr.	SG	United States	Virginia
2	44	Lonny Baxter	PF	United States	Maryland

Roster

2002-03 Chicago Bulls roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Ht. Wt. From C 11 Bagaric, Dalibor 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 255 lb (116 kg) Croatia PF 35 Baxter, Lonny 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 260 lb (118 kg) Maryland PF 43 Blount, Corie 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Cincinnati PG 9 Brunson, Rick 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Temple C 3 Chandler, Tyson 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Dominguez HS (CA) PG 1 Crawford, Jamal 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Michigan C 2 Curry, Eddy 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 285 lb (129 kg) Thornwood HS (IL) PF 21 Fizer, Marcus 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 262 lb (119 kg) Iowa State SG 44 Hassell, Trenton 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Austin Peay SG 20 Hoiberg, Fred 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 203 lb (92 kg) Iowa State SF 42 Marshall, Donyell 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 218 lb (99 kg) Connecticut SG 31 Mason, Roger 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Virginia SF 32 Robinson, Eddie 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Central Oklahoma SG 5 Rose, Jalen 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Michigan PG 22 Williams, Jay 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Duke	Head coach Bill Cartwright (San Francisco) Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured

Regular season

The Bulls entered the 2002-03 NBA season with an eager sense of anticipation on what the prior year’s moves would become.

Jalen Rose was expected to have a big year in his first full season with the club. The addition of Jay Williams, selected by the Bulls with the second overall pick in 2002 NBA Draft, was expected to provide the team with an extra scoring punch. Plus, the team’s two young big men, Tyson Chandler and Eddy Curry, each had a valuable year of pro experience under their belts.

General Manager Jerry Krause had what many considered at the time to be a very successful offseason. Besides Williams, the Bulls also added Roger Mason, Jr. and Lonny Baxter via the draft. Veteran forward Donyell Marshall—signed with the team’s mid-level exception—brought size and versatility to the team, and the shape of a solid squad was beginning to form.

In the end, though, having Rose, Marshall and an abundance of talented youth did not equate to winning games. After starting the season 2-0 for the first time since the 1996-97 campaign, Chicago garnered a franchise-worst 3-38 road record. The Bulls held a 19-game road losing streak from 11/02/02–01/18/03 and the team’s 30-52 record qualified it for a fifth-consecutive NBA Lottery appearance.

The franchise was ready to head in a new direction and the beginning of that movement started with the resignation of long-time executive Jerry Krause on April 7. Krause, then 64, played a major role in building Bulls World Championship teams and was a two-time NBA Executive of the Year.

“Jerry Krause is one of a kind,” Bulls Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf stated. “He brought with him a vision of how to build a champion and he proceeded to create one of the most dominant champions of all time. No basketball fan in America can begin to imagine the World Champion Chicago Bulls without his imprint.”

One week later, the Bulls named John Paxson EVP of Basketball Operations. Paxson had spent the previous seven seasons as a color analyst on both the Bulls Radio and TV networks, providing expert analysis to the broadcasts. He spent one season (1995–96) as Assistant Coach, helping the Bulls to an NBA-record 72-10 record and the 1996 NBA Finals.

“I am really excited to accept this challenge and look forward to working with the basketball operations staff,” said Paxson. “The Bulls organization has meant a lot to me over the years and getting the chance to help lead the team back to the upper echelon of the NBA is a true honor.”

Other Notes: Jay Williams authored his first career triple-double, recording season highs of 26 points, 14 rebounds and 13 assists in 45 minutes versus New Jersey (11/9) … Marcus Fizer suffered a torn ACL at Portland on 01/31/03 and was forced to miss the final 36 games of the season … Chicago appeared in a franchise-record nine overtime games (1-8).

Honors: Tyson Chandler (sophomore team) participated in the Schick Rookie Challenge at All-Star Weekend … Jay Williams was named the NBA’s “got milk?” Rookie of the Month for December … Williams (freshman team) also participated in the Schick Rookie Challenge at All-Star Weekend and was named to the got milk? NBA All-Rookie Second Team … Eddy Curry led the league in field goal percentage with .585 shooting from the floor … the Bulls drew an average of 19,617 fans through 41 home games (fifth in the NBA in attendance) and had 20 home crowds of 20,000+ (14-6 record), including 12 sellouts.

Standings

Central Division

Team	W	L	PCT	GB
Detroit Pistons	50	32	.610	-
Indiana Pacers	48	34	.585	2
New Orleans Hornets	47	35	.573	3
Milwaukee Bucks	42	40	.512	8
Atlanta Hawks	35	47	.427	15
Chicago Bulls	30	52	.366	20
Toronto Raptors	24	58	.293	26
Cleveland Cavaliers	17	65	.207	33

Awards and records

• Jay Williams, NBA All-Rookie Team 2nd Team

References

See also

• 2002–03 NBA season