This season has been a weird one for the Chicago Bulls. They started the year with a 5-14 record, surging toward an obvious rebuild at the trade deadline. But since then, they’ve gone 14-9, climbing up the Eastern Conference standings and into the mix for the Play-In Tournament, and they’ve done so with some key players sidelined.
Zach LaVine missed over a month from the end of November to the start of January, and Nikola Vucevic missed some games, too. Despite that, the Bulls have persevered, and fifth-year guard Coby White deserves a ton of credit for their success, as he’s taken a massive leap this season.
During a recent chat with Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic, White spoke about the spiritual journey that helped lead to his breakout season.
“This summer, I took a different direction,” White told Mayberry. “Like, I always work hard on the court. But off the court, I never took the time to grow, I’ll say mentally, spiritually, those types of areas. So this summer I wanted to do things differently. So this summer I read, like, three books. And I hate reading. But just from a mental discipline standpoint. I called it a spiritual journey I went on this summer. Just trying to grow spiritually and mentally.”
So far this season, the 23-year-old is averaging 18.5 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 4.9 assists while shooting 45.2% from the field and 40.2% from behind the three-point line.
If it weren’t for White’s emergence this season, the Bulls wouldn’t be where they are right now. He’s someone they can build around moving forward.
