What’s old is new again: New Bulls boss Graham remembers the 1990s, but can he repeat them?

Bulls president Michael Reinsdorf, who had never done a non-Zoom, NBA news conference prior to Wednesday, started this one strong.

He did something seldom seen in the sports world before introducing new head of basketball operations Bryson Graham — Reinsdorf admitted to being a bad owner.

“I need to say I'm sorry, because the results, obviously, just haven't been there,” Reinsdorf said at the Advocate Center. “It's not something I'm proud of, and it's something that I want to get right. Ultimately, it flows up to me and I take responsibility.”

Following that admission, a different theme started to take shape. Reinsdorf seemed fascinated by the fact that Graham started his NBA career as an intern with the New Orleans Hornets (not yet the Pelicans), who used to clean up the practice floor at the end of the day. A question from the audience referenced a photo of Graham carrying boxes as an intern.

Look, Reinsdorf isn't completely naive, but this felt like a Welcome to the Real World moment. Yes, it's actually pretty common among the bottom 98% to have started from scratch, done grunt work, taken second and third jobs to make ends meet. Many of us have mopped floors and carried boxes.

Maybe give Reinsdorf credit for this part: He looked at his own job performance, deemed it a failure, and hired someone very different from himself. Don't know what Reinsdorf's first job was, but probably safe to say he's had an easier path than most, especially since he leads a team owned by his father, Jerry.

So who is Bryson Graham? How did 16 years with the Hornets/Pelicans and one with the Atlanta Hawks (total playoff series won: 1) prepare him to lead the Bulls?

First of all, Graham, 39, carries a reverence for the Bulls that doesn't really exist in Chicago. As a child of the 1990s, growing up in San Antonio, Graham watched Michael Jordan's teams dominate the NBA and said he used the Dynasty Bulls as a template for his own life.

Those who have followed the Bulls closely since 1998 are more inclined to think of it as a franchise that has accomplished next to nothing when Jordan wasn't involved, with slight exceptions for Derrick Rose, Tom Thibodeau, Joakim Noah, etc.

Michael Jordan is the gold standard, not the Bulls. If Portland made a smarter draft decision in 1984, the Bulls would be the Sacramento Kings of the Midwest, still seeking their first trip to the Finals.

But Graham said he walked into the Advocate Center, looked up at the championship banners and thought about trying to meet that level of success.

“When Michael called and told me I got the job, I'm not afraid to say this, I started crying,” Graham said. “I broke down, man, because this organization means so much to me.”

The rest of the news conference sounded like an earnings call. The Bulls plan to be collaborative. Graham will turn things around by putting the right people in the right places. The word “holistic” was used twice.

One item that would have been great in a power point presentation was when Graham said he looks for players with SLAP — size, length, athleticism and physicality.

Another line seemed to describe Graham's vision for the Bulls: “Especially when you're a younger team, when you compete on the defensive end, your team typically plays harder.”

OK, so giving up 120-plus points per game — which the Bulls did 47 times last season — will be frowned upon. Got it.

Graham said the search for a new coach won't begin for at least another week. He admitted the Bulls are in rebuild mode and won't challenge for the 2027 NBA title.

He's willing to admit the obvious, good to know. There was one line that could be cause for concern, however.

“If I'm the smartest person in the room, we're going to fail,” Graham said.

The point was, hiring good people is his goal. But a team can have hard drives full of scouting reports, eventually someone needs to make the smart decision on draft night. Or when a trade offer is made.

Would Oklahoma City general manager Sam Presti ever admit he's not the smartest person in the room? Doesn't matter, the Bulls search is over.