Rush Street Reggie
Throughout the off-season, the team at Bulls Confidential is going to reveal our picks for the top 25 best players in Chicago Bulls franchise history. We are measuring overall impact on the organization, community, and how they impacted their team. Follow along on Twitter by searching #BC25.
25. Mickey Johnson
24. Guy Rodgers
23. Orlando Woolridge
22. Charles Oakley
21. Taj Gibson
20. Bob Boozer
19. Elton Brand
18. Ben Gordon
17. Tom Boerwinkle
16. Reggie Theus
This may come as a shock to you, but the Bulls were a very blah team in the years leading up to drafting Michael Jordan. During Reggie Theus’ tenure with the team (1978–84), they only made the playoffs once. Following that 45-win season in 1980–81, the Bulls swept the New York Knicks in a best-of-3 first round series only to lose four straight in the conference semifinals to the eventual champion Boston Celtics. The team eventually bottomed out at 27 wins during the 1983–84 season, during which, Theus was traded to the Kansas City Kings for Steve Johnson and three second-round draft picks.
Before leaving the Windy City, Theus was quite the fan favorite. Drafted ninth out of UNLV in the 1978 draft, he earned the nickname Rush Street Reggie for the apartment he lived in near that street. Averaging 16.3 points and 5.2 assists a game while shooting 48 percent from the field, he earned All-Rookie First Team honors and was runner-up to Kansas City’s Phil Ford for the 1979 Rookie of the Year Award.
A product of Jerry Tarkanian’s high-scoring, quick moving college teams, Theus’ tutelage from the Hall of Fame coach was apparent. His scoring average was regularly in the high teens and low 20s, peaking at 23.8 points a game in 1982–83, a 5.4-point improvement from the previous year that was good for ninth in the NBA. He led the Bulls in assists in each of his five full seasons with them and had plenty of chances to share the wealth, playing every game in that span.
An exciting player for a struggling franchise, Theus made the All-Star Game in 1981 and ’83. For his Bulls career, he averaged 18.8 points, 5.6 assists and 1.3 steals. He ranks sixth on the franchise’s assists list (2,472), eighth on the steals list (580) and ninth on the scoring list (8,279). That’s not bad for someone who had few key supporting players around him besides Artis Gilmore.
Reflective of how little interest there was in the NBA and especially the Bulls at that time, only a few clips of him during his time in Chicago exist. There’s one from when he returned to his hometown of Inglewood to play the Los Angeles Lakers:
And there’s an anti-smoking ad he did with Isaiah Thomas before Zeke became disliked by the fans in his hometown:
Things might have been different after Theus’ rookie season had the Bulls won the coin flip with the Lakers that determined the first pick of the 1979 draft. Instead, Magic Johnson brought Showtime to Hollywood while the Bulls had to settle for David Greenwood. In hindsight, it worked out because it led to the dark years that ultimately landed Jordan. But it’s still hard not to imagine what could have happened if Magic had worn red and white instead of purple and gold.
Not helping besides the lack the talent was instability at the head coaching position. For Theus’ first five seasons in Chicago, the Bulls went through six different men in that job. It was a situation that would make Jay Cutler and his numerous offensive coordinators jealous. Things came to a head in 1983–84 when Theus’ seventh coach, Kevin Loughery, sat him out of a home win over the Milwaukee Bucks and Theus made his thoughts known in an interview:
If you listen to his words, it sounds a lot like how the current Bulls have let their situation deteriorate over the past few years. Unsurprisingly, Theus was shipped out soon after much in the same way Tom Thibodeau was fired after the 2015 playoffs. The difference is the Bulls’ best days were about to begin then while many have doubts about how good today’s incarnation will be for the foreseeable future.
Maybe someone like Kris Dunn or Zach LaVine can be a beacon of hope during the pending Bulls struggle much like Theus was in his day. A player who could score, pass and play defense the way Theus is badly needed. It kept a few people interested back then, even if Chicago Stadium was mostly empty for games. Obviously, some of us are watching to see if a Theus is coming now or we wouldn’t have this blog.
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