Love Ya, Luol

It’s easy to forget how instrumental Luol Deng was for the Bulls in almost a decade of wearing their uniform. While Ben Gordon was making shots in crunch time, Derrick Rose was playing like a superstar, and Joakim Noah was taking the role of defensive and emotional leader, Deng did everything right without all the flash. Yeah, he made the All-Star team during his last two full seasons with the Bulls, but he mainly was unheralded despite doing everything that would merit more fame. That’s why he deserves all the love from Bulls Nation after signing a one-day contract to retire as a Bull on Thursday.

Two years ago, Deng, appropriately, was ranked ninth on our top 25 Bulls list. Almost anything that could be said about his career would be rehashed from that story, so it would be better to click the link and read that. But it would be remiss not to mention that he ranks in the top 10 of nearly every major category in Bulls history. And accumulating 10,286 points, 4,078 rebounds and 3,987 field goals over 591 games with the franchise is worthy of mention.

If you click on Sam Smith’s story, the headline reads, “Rarely the face, always the heart.” It happens so often where a player is on a team for a long time but never is seen as its biggest contributor despite being incredibly talented in his own right. That was Deng all over. Though he didn’t garner the attention commanded by Gordon, Rose and Noah, those teams he was on wouldn’t have had all the success they did without him.

Not only was Deng a fantastic player during his Bulls year, but he simply was a great guy. His charity work and how he was an ambassador for the NBA during overseas excursions demonstrated how much he cared about spreading positivity and the well-being of others. He netted him the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award in 2014. At a time when the NBA is at a boiling point with its relationship with China, stuff like this is refreshing to look back on.

On the flip side, Deng’s body always seemed to betray him at the worst times, especially come playoff time. Would the Bulls have beaten the Wizards during the 2005 playoffs or come out on top against the Celtics in 2009 had Deng been able to go? Or if he didn’t have that spinal tap in 2013, would they have made it more of a series against the Heat? That last issue and the way it was handled especially was a key talking point when he and the organization eventually parted ways.

Deng probably won’t have his number retired, but Bulls fans will remember him like he should have that honor, and rightfully so. He was a quiet but productive leader during the Bulls’ best years post-Jordan. He obviously recognizes how valuable he was to the team and is grateful for it because why else would he have signed that ceremonial contract? Best of luck to him, and we’ll always remember whenever he became, as Stacey King often said, “Deng-erous.”