Friends and teammates: Ranking the Bulls' best “bromances”
Modern NBA players have a ton of commitments, personal coaches, maybe a small entourage. But how many have a true friend in the locker room?
Inspired by today's feature on Patrick Williams and Coby White, Mike McGraw ranks the seven best Bulls “bromances” he's seen since he started covering the team during the second championship run:
7. Fred Hoiberg-Brad Miller
This gets a mention mostly because Hoiberg used to call Miller “Lloyd.” That's for Lloyd Christmas, Jim Carrey's character in “Dumb and Dumber.” Hoiberg was more fun before he became a coach. Miller and Joakim Noah were also pretty tight during Miller's second stint with the Bulls.
6. Ronnie Brewer-Jimmy Butler
This one flew a bit under the radar, but during Butler's rookie season of 2011-12 when he never played, Brewer took him under his wing. The veteran was often seen directing Butler to extra workouts and skill development. It's safe to say Brewer played a role in Butler's rise from No. 30 overall pick to NBA All-Star.
5. Joakim Noah-Thabo Sefolosha
These guys used to talk to each other across the locker room in French, which is borderline mean behavior, but unique. Sure hope they weren't talking bad about the reporters. Also recall the time Kendrick Perkins threw Noah out of the Oklahoma City locker room; Noah went in there trying to visit Thabo. Stuff happens.
4. Tyson Chandler-Eddy Curry-Jamal Crawford
The youngest guys on the early 2000s team used to pal around quite a bit. They were hanging out at the Berto Center during the 2002 draft when the Bulls took Jay Williams, which was a little awkward for Crawford. A year later, the trio tried to include Williams in the group, but then came the motorcycle accident and none of them stayed with the Bulls for very long.
3. Steve Kerr-Jud Buechler
This one's a little unfair, since these two were not only college teammates at Arizona, but also shared a similar background growing up in Southern California. Of course they would stay friends. Luc Longley, being from Perth, Australia, had enough of a beach vibe to fit in with this group sometimes.
2. Jimmy Butler-Dwyane Wade
These two were supposedly playing dominoes and drinking wine together in Paris when Butler got the news he'd been traded to Minnesota. That's a moment to forget in Bulls history, but the friendship is admirable.
1. Luol Deng-Andres Nocioni
Easily the No. 1 bromance of this era. Two guys who were new to America. Deng learned to speak English when his family lived in London. Nocioni learned once he got here, but still had an impressive sense of humor for someone still figuring out the language. Deng and Nocioni's lockers were always next to each other and they were usually giggling about something before games.
They were also neighbors for a time in Northbrook. One memorable story is Nocioni invited Deng over to watch some sort of action movie. But Nocioini had the volume on the TV turned up so loud, he couldn't hear Deng knocking on the door (this was before texting became a thing). Anyway, the next day Nocioni was like, “Why didn't you come over?” Hopefully these two, from South Sudan and Argentina, find some time to hang out.