The NBA Finals are pressing on, and while I enjoy watching, there is little for me to get excited about as a Bulls fan, so my day-to-day attention has turned to Chicago’s free agency decisions, and well, of course, the draft. Inspired by Will Gottlieb’s article breaking down all of the major transactions in the Arturas Karnisovas & Marc Eversley era, I decided to analyze and map all of the draft picks the Bulls have made in the Jacob Grenemeier era (AKA my lifetime). If you haven’t had the chance to read Will’s article, I suggest checking it out, I have thoroughly enjoyed all of CHGO’s content.
Let’s take a trip back to June 30th 1993, draft night, the Bulls have the 25th (1.25) and 41st (2.14) picks, and are coming off of their first 3-peat. The world is enamored with the Chicago Bulls and everyone wants to be like Mike. Jacob (That’s me!) is just a couple months away from being introduced to the world. Jerry Reinsdorf and Jerry Krause are at the helm of the team, responsible for making the selections for the 1993 draft.
The pick is in! With the 25th pick in the 1993 NBA draft, the Chicago Bulls select….
Corie Blount, Forward from Cincinnati
Corie Blount played 2 seasons for the Chicago Bulls after being drafted. Unfortunately, this first pick doesn’t have a very long history for us to retrace. Corie averaged 10 minutes per game in his rookie year starting 8 games and went on to average 13 minutes in his 2nd season starting in 9 games, contributing 3 points per game on average in both seasons. After 2 years, the Bulls sold the player rights to the Lakers in 1995.
He would make his way back to Chicago in 2002 as a free agent, starting in 3 games that season and staying true to his scoring abilities, averaging 3 points, this time with an average of 17 minutes per game. The Bulls would waive him the next year. Blount bounced around the league but did enjoy an 11 year NBA career.
In 2008, according to wikipedia, Blount was arrested for possession of 29 pounds of marijuana. Police confiscated 3 vehicles, 3 guns, and about $30,000 cash. He was released on bond and later, in 2009, pleaded guilty to 2 felony possession charges and sentenced to 1 year in prison among other financial punishments.
The best part of this story is that he apparently told the judge that it was all for personal use! To which the judge replied, and I am not making this up, “Cheech and Chong would have had a hard time smoking that much.”
If you don’t believe me, you can read the ESPN article here.
After that unexpected turn, let’s see what the Bulls did with their second pick in the ’93 draft.
Anthony Reed, Forward from Tulane
Anthony Reed recorded exactly zero minutes playing for the Bulls because he was waived before the season began. He made his way into the Euro leagues where he played for a few years, and then bounced around over seas before retiring from basketball. Some quick fun facts about Reed, when he left Tulane, he was the program’s all-time leading scorer, he no longer holds that title. In 2015, however, he was inducted into the Louisiana Basketball Hall of Fame according to our friends at Wikipedia.
A fairly uneventful year in Chicago’s draft history, but that is somewhat expected when you’ve just won 3 straight championships. Little did the Bulls know at the time, but just 3 months later, Michael Jordan would announce his retirement (the first time) on October 6th, throwing the basketball world into a whirlwind.
The top draft picks in the ’93 draft were:
1. Chris Webber – Orlando (traded to Golden State)
2. Shawn Bradley – Philadelphia
3. Penny Hardaway – Golden State (traded to Orlando)
Maybe Chicago’s ’94 draft selections will give us a little bit more context to build on than a local Louisiana Legend and a guy who would rather be rolling papers, than rolling off screens.
Jacob Grenemeier
June 7th, 2022
Credit to:
Photo: https://www.amazon.com/1993-94-Ultra-Blount-Rookie-Basketball/dp/B081Y2TR9K
Info: basketball-reference.com wikipedia.com
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