NBA players are NBA fans, too, both past and present. So just like you, they followed the games, bought the shoes and hung the posters of their favorite players while growing up.
Here are the favorite players of some of the Bulls' youths. And remember, this is a young team, so Michael Jordan is no longer the automatic answer.
Bobby Portis
I liked Rasheed Wallace, Kevin Garnett and Chris Bosh because I felt like I could be one of those guys one day. I liked the energy they brought every day, the sense of awareness they brought every day and the dog mentality they had every day. I had the Rasheed Wallace "Air Force" shoes and tried to hoop in those but I couldn't do it. I was in fifth grade. They're walk-around shoes but he played ball in them. I don't know how he hooped in those.
Cristiano Felicio
We didn't always get games in Brazil, but I loved Kevin Garnett because of the intensity he had when he played. He was always hustling, playing with heart, giving everything he had for the team. I tried to put a little bit of that into my game. I didn't have any posters of him because they were hard to get in Brazil and I didn't have the money for it. But I followed what I could.
Justin Holiday
It's Michael Jordan for me. He played both ends of the floor so hard. He was about winning. He was very efficient, did whatever was needed at either end to win. That's what I liked.
Kris Dunn
Kobe Bryant and Rajon Rondo. I loved Rondo because he competed and could see the floor with the best of them. Kobe, his mentality, he was almost like a villain and a good guy at the same time. That's hard to do, to have people hate what you do but also love it at the same time _ or at least respect it. I'm too young to say Michael Jordan. But I'm not oblivious. Clearly, everybody said Michael Jordan was the best. I got to see YouTube highlights. But in my era, Kobe was the closest to MJ. I used to hang posters of those players. Now that I'm in the NBA, I don't do it anymore. That'd be a little weird. I met Kobe once at the Nike camp. I met Rajon recently when we were in the weight room together before a game.
Robin Lopez
When I was younger, it was Magic. I grew up in California so I was a showtime-era Lakers fan. When I got older, I loved Tim Duncan because of his professionalism. I read Sports Illustrated for Kids growing up and the posters in there were Michael Jordan, Shaq, Charles Barkley, those 90s players. But my older brother had a Magic poster. Playing against Duncan early in my career was a little surreal, especially with the rivalry going on between the Spurs and Suns.
Lauri Markkanen
The time difference in Finland made it hard to watch games, but I'd watch highlights. And I always loved LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. I played guard growing up and started watching basketball in 2006, and that was his championship year when he played great in the Finals. Then he played in the Olympics in 2008. And LeBron is LeBron.
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