As the Chicago Bulls decided to clean house after the Derrick Rose era in Chicago came to an end, the team traded forward Jimmy Butler to the Minnesota Timberwolves in a trade package centered around Zach LaVine in return. After the move, LaVine would go on to blossom into one of the top-scoring guards in the NBA.
LaVine spent seven full seasons in Chicago, before being dealt at the trade deadline this year to offload the nearly $100 million remaining on his contract. On Thursday night, LaVine faced his former team for the first time and sent a heartfelt message to the organization that helped him blossom into the player he is now.
“I put that jersey on with a lot of pride. I loved Chicago. Always will.”
Zach LaVine on his time as a Chicago Bull 🥹 pic.twitter.com/JmkKXTfCwO
— Bulls on CHSN (@CHSN_Bulls) March 21, 2025
“I put that jersey on with a lot of pride,” LaVine told reporters Thursday. “I loved Chicago. Always will. I appreciate the fans and support…I wore it with a heart on my sleeve, I can’t get mad at that.” LaVine added there’s no bad blood between him and the Bulls, and still spoke highly of the organization.
LaVine made two All-Star games while in Chicago, with his best season coming in 2020-21 where he averaged 27.4 points per game. Now in Sacramento, he has helped put the team in a position to possibly make the play-in tournament and potentially advance to the playoffs.
Unfortunately for LaVine, he wasn’t able to get the best of his former team in his first meeting. Scoring just eight points, the Bulls walked away with a 128-116 win in Sacramento.
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