As Chicago Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf prepares to celebrate the 20th anniversary of his team's first title, he's sensing the Bulls may be on the verge of another championship era.

Michael Jordan will be at United Center Saturday with other former Bulls to celebrate the first of six titles they won in the 1990s. But nostalgia will be mixed with anticipation, as the Bulls have at least one interested observer confident that another championship run could be near.


"If you don't see something special in Derrick Rose, then you're blind," Reinsdorf told the Chicago Sun-Times. "We have an outstanding coach, an outstanding bunch of players, the team is deep, and if we stay healthy we have an awfully good chance of winning at least four championships."

Rose, 22, is considered the favorite to become the youngest MVP in NBA history. He and Tom Thibodeau, who is a strong candidate for coach of the year, have positioned the Bulls as the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference.

"I think the sky's the limit for us right now," Rose said Wednesday morning. "I think everybody in this locker room, they want to win a championship. They're winners.

"Who's to say that we can't win it this year?"

Reinsdorf reiterated how U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, who played for Thibodeau at Harvard, campaigned for Thibodeau to get the Bulls' coaching job in 2008. Thibodeau was a Celtics assistant at the time, and Boston -- which was on a championship run -- denied Chicago permission to speak to Thibodeau until after the playoffs, so the Bulls instead hired Vinny Del Negro.

The Bulls fired Del Negro after two seasons, and Duncan again entered the picture to campaign for his former coach. And after the hire, Reinsdorf -- who also is chairman of the Chicago White Sox -- heard from none other than President Barack Obama.

"When the job was open again, I talked to Duncan several times on the subject, and he still strongly recommended Thibodeau," Reinsdorf told the Sun-Times. "So we hired him. Then in July 2010, the White Sox were playing in Washington, and we invited President Obama to come to the game.


"First, [Obama adviser] David Axelrod arrived and said, 'Thanks for hiring Thibodeau.' Then a little while later, President Obama came in and the first thing he said to me was, 'Great hire.'

"Isn't that a beautiful story?"

After the Bulls hired Thibodeau, Duncan talked with ESPNChicago.com about Thibodeau's dedication.

"Tom believed in me and worked to get me the opportunity, and he didn't have to do that," Duncan said. "I was a long shot at best. He wasn't paid extra after the season to work with me. ... He has just an extraordinary commitment to his players and the hours he will put in with them and the team are like nothing you've ever seen before. I'll never forget what he did for me."

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I know everyone is going to blow these comments up to something "similar to what the Heat said", but that's bullshit. Pun intended.

Jerry is obviously just very confident with his team. While I will be surprised if the Bulls can win 4 more titles with this core group, I don't think it is impossible.

Gotta get that first one, though.

That's the issue I, and I'm sure many others, will take with this.

You really can't start talking about multiple titles til you win that first one with this group....

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This is my signature...

If the new CBA is as tough as some expect it to be I believe they will be in a great position to win. Boston and LA are getting old and all of the other teams that are on the same level as the Bulls are in cap hell and their roster isn't as deep. I believe they can win the title this season but they'll have to grow as a team even more. With Boozer and Noah finally healthy I believe they can do that.

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is HOVA turning into kujoe? every other post of yours is a reprinted article from somewhere

Trying to improve the quality of my posts.

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Try harder.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Hell, I think it's going well.

Can the Bulls win it all? Uh, does Brian Scalabrine have red hair?

Of course the Bulls can win an NBA championship. Not next season, but this season. And not because somebody is going to kidnap the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference, or that the Western Conference's Lakers are vaporized by aliens in "Battle: Los Angeles. "

You wouldn't have said this in November and early December, when the Bulls were learning how to play for first-year coach Tom Thibodeau. But as the months have passed and the wins have piled up like snow banks, it's obvious the Bulls have enough talent, depth, coaching and, well, stones, to spray champagne on each other late this summer.

Since a Dec. 3 loss at Boston, the Bulls are 10-0 against pedigree opponents such as the Lakers, Celtics, Oklahoma City, Dallas, San Antonio, Orlando (twice) and Miami (three times). They're 19-9 against teams with .500 or better records. And they're one of only three teams in the league that haven't lost more than two games in a row. Is that any good?

If defense wins championships, the Bulls can do that. If having success against the Western Conference means anything -- and it does -- the Bulls can do that too (no Eastern Conference team has more wins against the Western teams than Chicago). If having arguably the best player in the league matters, then the Bulls are in boffo shape with the electric Derrick Rose.

The Bulls are healthy. They're fearless. They believe.

Guess what? So do I.

http://espn.go.com/chicago/hot/index?id=6193792

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Here's what is guarenteed. The Bulls, with a healthy Rose, are a 50+ win team for the next 10 years. At least half of those years they'll be a 60 win team.

Boston is gonna be done in a couple of years. Do you honestly think the Heat are gonna be the only team in the East to make the finals for the next 10 years? Of course they won't. They'll win a couple. The Bulls will win a couple. Bulls have a good chance to get one this year.

I think Rose is a lock for 2 titles. Could be as many as 4.

Granted, some other team in the East could get a stud in the draft in the next few years. You have to account for that. But it's gonna be tough for somebody to be better than Rose.