Recently in Chicago Bulls Category

Michael Jordan and his "devil" shoe. (AP)

The Cult of the Air Jordan is a passionate one. Since the first release of Michal Jordan's iconic shoe line in 1985, Nike has managed to develop a dedication of follower that borders on frenzy - do a Google search for "Air Jordan" and gaze at the 33,000,000+ links for proof if you have a few spare minutes.

Each year a new high top is rolled out to the delight of the fashion-aware ballers, hipsters, trendsters and collectors - mostly long gone are the days when you could get jacked up for you Mikes, even thought they still command a mighty price.

Nike's Jumpman23 site is, yes, above all a marketing/advertising push for you to fork over your hard-earned dollars for a tennis shoe. But at least they do it in a cool way. Not least of the interesting features is this new timeline feature that takes you through the years of Air Jordan with interesting videos, photos and facts about the man who could fly.

Rick Reilly, making his Sportscenter anchor debut on ESPN this morning, gave a brief editorial toward the end of the show, saying the Hall of Fame isn't enough to honor Michael Jordan's legacy. He suggested that Jordan's No. 23 should be retired throughout the NBA -- as hockey did with Wayne Gretzky's 99 and baseball did with Jackie Robinson's 42.

Miami Heat president Pat Riley retired Jordan's number throughout his organization -- and Jordan never even played there.

"In honor of your greatness and for all you've done for the game of basketball -- and not just the NBA, but for all the fans around the world -- we want to honor you tonight and hang your jersey, No. 23, from the rafters," Riley told Jordan during a 2003 ceremony.

The arguments for retiring his number throughout the NBA are many. Jordan transformed the game of basketball, inspired generations and is largely responsible for making the NBA the enterprise it is today.

"23 needs to hang in the air," Reilly argued, "kind of like Jordan did in all those epic flights to the rim."

What do you think? How would you feel about your team retiring No. 23? Is there another player in NBA history deserving of this honor? 

Despite the fact that he's credited for assembling the teams that would help him win six championships, Michael Jordan won't be seeing Jerry Krause at his Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

"I don't have a great desire to be there," the former Bulls GM told the Boston Globe.

Krause, who served the team from 1985-2003, was the chairman of the Hall of Fame selection committee until he stepped down in the early 90s. He disagreed with the committee's practice of keeping the selection process secret. He told the Globe he vowed not to enter the Hall of Fame building in Springfield, Mass. unless former Bulls assistant coach Tex Winter was inducted.

Krause and Jordan's relationship was one of the more interesting and complex story lines throughout the team's championship runs. Krause told the Globe, "We were not close and we're not close today."

However, Krause praised Jordan's professionalism off the court, and paid him the ultimate compliment after the star's first retirement, when he told Jordan "he was better than [Earl] Monroe."

It may be an understatement to say it's been a busy summer for Bulls guard Derrick Rose. In the midst of controversy, the 2009 NBA Rookie of the Year is looking to avoid a sophomore slump by waking up early every morning to hit the gym.

The negative press surrounding Rose didn't stop 2K Sports from making him the face of their new lead-up demo to the NBA 2K10 video game -- "NBA 2K10 Draft Combine."

With "Draft Combine" you experience the same thing the players do as they get ready to make the transition from college to the pros -- from the scrimmages to the drills, workouts and game situations.  

And while it's not the cover of the main game (that honor went to Kobe Bryant) it still has to be encouraging for Rose to see companies looking to him to represent their product.

We caught up with Rose recently to ask him a few questions about "Draft Combine" and what he's been up to:

Why does any discussion of NBA basketball - specifically, the Bulls - still start and end with the words: Michael Jordan? Because the greatest player ever - no disrespect, Wilt - still has game.

Just check out the video above with a 46-year-old, puffy Jordan sporting some truly baggy jeans facing up Chris "The Ghetto Bird" Young, dropping fadeaway after fadeaway over the 6-foot-4, 180-pound 34-year-old.

And if that weren't enough, he starts off with a flat-footed reverse slam from under the basket, a feat Slamball star Young can't do facing forward.

Of course, Jordan talks trash the entire time, asking Young to tell him which side he wants to defend, then knocking down shots from right there. "How many times you gotta see it," you can here a teammate ask from the side.

You can just smell the edge - Jordan's laughing and joshing, but he wants to beat this guy and wants him to know he got beat.

So, does this set us up for another comeback? Can the Bulls line up his Airness, maybe just leave him on the bench til the fourth quarter or the final 5 minutes of a game? OK, maybe we're not there. But it's pretty clear Jordan still has skills you can only dream about and clearly still has the competitive fire that made him the greatest.

Jordan grounds the Ghetto Bird (Slam)

Patrick Kane's not the only Chicago athlete worthy of gracing a video game cover. Derrick Rose has been tapped as the frontman for NBA 2K10: Draft Combine. Sure, it's not prestigious as the Kobe Bryant-helmed official title, but Rose seems the perfect fit for the super demo.

You may be asking yourself at this point, What is Draft Combine and why should I drop $4.99 to download it on my Xbox or Playstation 3?

A 2K Sports press release explains it all:

In NBA 2K10: Draft Combine, fans will begin their career at the ATTACK Athletics gym in Chicago by building their own custom player and working with a mentor, the 2K Insider, to step up their game through a variety of challenging basketball drills and 5-on-5 games to increase their NBA draft stock.  The greater a player excels at a particular drill, or in completing specific game objectives, the more valuable skill points they will receive which can be used to improve one of over 30 key player attributes.  Fans can then take their custom built players in NBA 2K10: Draft Combine and use them in the all-new My Player career mode in NBA 2K10 launching this fall, allowing them to continue their journey toward becoming an NBA legend.  

Rose, last year's rookie of the year and the first pick in the 2008 draft, knows what it takes to prep for the draft -- which is perhaps why he was picked for this.  

"Derrick is the perfect fit to be our spokesman for NBA 2K10: Draft Combine," said Greg Thomas, senior vice president of sports development for 2K.  "Not only is he one of the most dynamic young playmakers in the NBA today, he's the pride of Chicago, where the real NBA Draft Combine is located.  We look forward to working closely with Derrick this season, and are thrilled to offer our fans a brand new pre-season basketball experience with NBA 2K10: Draft Combine."

So -- if you've always wanted to know what it's like to train in Chicago's famed ATTACK Center but always lacked the athletic prowess, this may be as close as you'll get. Which is exactly why we here at Sports Pros(e) will be downloading this one.

Trying to pick Michael Jordan's greatest basketball moment is a practice akin to choosing God's most perfect creation. Sure, the obvious answer is Natalie Portman, but then you start to really think about it and eventually realize that Mt. Everest is pretty sweet, too.

Still, choosing Jordan's greatest moment is exactly what Gatorade is asking hoops fans to do in honor of MJ's September induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Leading the pack at the moment is Jordan's final shot as a Bull (right) -- a championship-clincher against the Utah Jazz in 1998. In a distant second is "The Shot" that sank Cleveland in the 1989 playoffs. Next (and the humble choice of this writer) is Jordan's first title celebration where he weeps while clutching the championship trophy. It's my favorite because I knew at that moment, as an 11-year-old undersized dork in the suburbs with joyous tears streaming down his face, that Michael Jordan and I were doing the same thing at the same time.

Other contenders include:

• "The shrug" game against Portland in the 1992 finals where he hit six threes in the first half.
• Winning the 1996 title on Father's Day.
• Dunking on the Knicks at the Garden.
• The cradle drunk during his 1984 rookie year.
• Dropping 63 points in the 1986 playoffs against the Celtics.
• Scoring 55 points against the Knicks in 1995 shortly after his comeback.

This list reads like a where-were-you biography of the childhood/adolescent experience I shared with so many of the guys I grew up with. But did Gatorade leave any of his top moments out? How about announcing his return to the NBA with the words, "I'm back." Or perhaps the up-and-under scoop in the '91 finals that prompted Marv Albert to yell, "Oh, a spec-tac-u-lar move!"

Tell us your favorite MJ moment in the comment section below. And don't forget to visit the Gatorade Facebook page to register your vote for MJ's greatest moment. If you're at least 18, you can enter to win a trip to the Hall of Fame ceremony to see His Airness get inducted next month.

For those of you out there who have expanded cable and miss the days when the Bulls were dominating their way through the NBA playoffs, the oft-ignored NBA-TV has you covered.

The station plans to air all 10 of the championship-clinching games that Phil Jackson has coached in his career.

Fire up your DVR because  this may be the only chance you have to see a Bulls championship celebration for a very long time.

Plus, it's always fun to watch Michael and Scottie being, well, Michael and Scottie.

Here's the schedule. Sure, it's already under way, but there's a full day of Phil-eriffic programming tomorrow:

With the acquisition of former Bulls guard Ben Gordon and his UConn teammate Charlie Villanueva, there's a bit of optimism growing in Pistonville.

At least one Detroit journalist thinks Gordon is among the pieces needed for the franchise to return to championship form. Free Press columnist Michael Rosenberg writes: "Their arrivals put the Pistons back in the upper echelon of the Eastern Conference, and they allow Dumars to keep maneuvering until he has all the right pieces. Remember, he didn't add the final starter on the 2004 champs, Rasheed Wallace, until February of that season."

Detroit News journalist Chris McCosky praised Gordon as well: "But in Gordon, 26, they have a bona fide scorer, one who can get his shot off anytime, anywhere and one completely unafraid to take big shots in big spots. He silenced all critics with his performance in the playoffs last season (24 ppg)."

If anything, Gordon's performance in the playoffs exposed his greatest weakness and showed him to be -- as another former Chicago athlete was described -- a mental midget.

A sneak peek of things to come if Shaq teams up with LeBron in Cleveland?

The pressure for the Bulls to up their game, literally, as the NBA Draft hits may have just gotten bigger.

Reports early Thursday morning say the Cleveland Cavaliers have sealed a deal to grab Shaquille O'Neal from the Phoenix Suns to team with LeBron James. The Cavs would ship Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic, a 2nd round pick and cash west to complete the deal in a salary dump for the Suns and a belated move for Cleveland after being pushed around in the pivot by Orlando in the playoffs

ESPN.com reports that this is a move long-in waiting for Cleveland:

The trade gives the Cavs a player they've coveted since February. With center Zydrunas Ilgauskas starting to break down, adding Shaq to the roster gives them a dominant force in the middle. The Cavs were obviously unhappy with their ability to defend Dwight Howard in the playoffs and bringing Shaq into the fold should help.

Owner approval is apparently all that's left.

That puts the onus on the Bulls to beef up a low post that was too-often exposed last season. But with the 16 and 26 picks in the first round, there may be no help in the wings, dressed in pinstripe suits and shaking David Stern's hand.

There is, of course, still the possibility of a Chris Bosh deal with Toronto, depending on what happens with the Kirk Hinrich and Ben Gordon contract talks - Hinrich has often been rumored in a potential package for the Raptors' big man.

But for now the young Bulls will be facing a potential Shaq in the King's Castle as they try to make the next jump toward a return to glory.

Yahoo! Sports reports on the LeShaq deal. (Yahoo!Sports)