It was doubt and a lack of respect from the beginning, though it only would fuel the motivation that always has driven the Bulls franchise at it enters its 50th season in 2015-16. It’s a franchise perhaps appropriately named, stubborn in its tenacity and determination, bullish, if you will.
And so it was even that first day, Oct. 15, 1966, when the original baby Bulls took the floor in the NBA for the first time. It was in St. Louis, and Hawks player/coach Richie Guerin, a perennial All-Star with the New York Knickerbockers, predicted this Bulls bunch of expansion rejects would be fortunate to win 10 games.