My four year old daughter decided at the beginning of this season that Zach LaVine was her favorite player. I don’t know if it was the praise I heaped on him whenever we watched games together, or if it’s his clean cut good looks, but she loved cheering for LaVine. Anytime the tv cameras gave a close up of Zach, she would start chanting his name. “ZACH LAVINE! ZACH LAVINE!” It was cute and fun, and I was excited to share my fandom with my daughter. I didn’t really think about the consequences of exposing a small child to the “business” of professional sports.
This morning after I woke my daughter up, I sat down on the edge of her bed and I broke her heart.
I wasn’t sure how to talk to her about what had happened, so I just launched into it while she was still wiping the sleepies out of her eyes.
“I’ve got some bad news, kiddo.” She sat up in bed, the tone of my voice causing her immediate concern. “So the Bulls traded Zach LaVine last night. He’s going to play for the Sacramento Kings now.”
It took about a second or two for her to process this bit of news. I wasn’t really sure if she knew what a “trade” was, but she’s pretty sharp and figured it out quickly.
“He’s not going to play for the Bulls?” She asked.
“No, kiddo, he’s going to play with his friend DeMar DeRozan in California.”
My daughter knows California. Her aunt lives there, and we’ve gone to visit her. She knows it’s far away. Another second or two to process this news, and then the tears started to fall and the wailing commenced.
Welcome to being a Bulls fan, kiddo. They break your heart every damn time.
In a lot of ways the trade of Zach LaVine is heartbreaking. It really is an end of an era. Trading Zach puts a pin in the long and futile effort to rebuild the franchise after the Derrick Rose injuries, the firing of Tom Thibodeau, and the infamous Jimmy Butler trade. LaVine was the last hope that something good could have been scrapped together from the wreckage of the GarPax era. I suppose we could lean into Coby White, but I don’t see him rescuing this franchise by himself.
It’s heartbreaking to see Zach, who worked so hard to get better every year, who made two All-Star teams, won an olympic gold medal, started a family, and was a stand up face of the franchise for nearly a decade in this city, be shuffled out the door – after 2 seasons of AKME dithering – for not much in return.
Was LaVine Chicago’s basketball messiah? No.
Was he even our Moses? No.
But he was one of the best players to ever suit up for this franchise. His name appears prominently in the Bulls record books in all sorts of categories. Night in and night out, LaVine was the most exciting player on the team to watch.
It’s heartbreaking that the league couldn’t recognize LaVine’s real value and contributions as a basketball player, teammate, and leader.
In a lot of ways, Chicago Bulls fans and the NBA in general, have to get over Michael Jordan and Derrick Rose. That’s a bar that nobody is going to vault. We should stop expecting Bulls players to clear it.
I’m going to join my daughter in mourning the trade of Zach LaVine. I’m going to allow myself to be a little heartbroken about it. And after an appropriate period of time has passed, I’m going to sit down with my daughter and cheer for whoever is left on this stupid teams roster, because that’s what fans do.
Before I go, I’m going to leave you with my favorite LaVine memory. There have been a lot of dramatic last second shots in Bulls history, Jordan has so many, Kukoc has a couple, Rose has a few, but this one lives rent free in my mind because it reminds me so much of Reggie Miller beating the Knicks…
Big time players make big time plays.
Until the next big time player wears Bulls across their chest, thanks for reading, thanks for subscribing, thank you Zach LaVine, and GO BULLS!
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