If you're a hooper, there's probably no greater feeling than playing in the house that Mike built.
When you get to do it on a nightly basis as The Man on the Bulls? Goosebumps.
The only caveat is, if you're playing in the United Center, you have to bring it every night. No excuses.
When the Bulls signed DeMar DeRozan last summer to a three-year, $82 million contract, he was coming off three seasons in San Antonio where his game didn't flourish as it had in Toronto.
MORE: What could Raptors offer for Donovan Mitchell?
With the Bulls, however, DeRozan got back to his best, and in the process became one of the most clutch players in the NBA.
It didn't come without bumps in the road, though.
Speaking on "The Draymond Green Show" podcast, DeRozan recalled how an early-season hiccup changed his mindset.
“The moment where I really realized like, you've got to bring it every single night in that arena, and I’ve never spoken this on nothing [in the] media," DeRozan said, "I think we was four or five games into the season, we were playing the Knicks, and I took the game-winner. And I air-balled. I just felt the whole vibe of everything, like, 'What the f—?' Like, 'What was that?' Like, you know what I mean.
“I told myself I would never be in that situation again — to let that same feeling happen for the fans.”
— Bleacher Nation Bulls (@BN_Bulls) July 28, 2022
Chicago is so damn lucky to have DeMar DeRozan.
(🎥 @TheVolumeSports)
pic.twitter.com/egQKBIzOXf
"I felt like I disrespected the aura of what these fans is used to seeing. From, obviously, [Michael Jordan] hitting game-winners and, you know, you live for those moments, and to be in that moment for the first time, my fourth, fifth season in a game, and I take that shot. It was like, I told myself I would never be in that situation again."
DeRozan explained further.
"So you look back at all the moments that I had in that arena, it was more so like, yo, this is the ghost of like, I’m trying to inherit the ghost of Michael shooting his fadeaway with the clock running down," he said.
He stayed true to his word.
The Bulls guard hit two game-winners back to back in early January.
First he stunned the Pacers with a one-legged 3-pointer as time expired, and then he did it again 24 hours later, hitting a game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer to defeat the Wizards.
In late February, DeRozan broke Wilt Chamberlain's decades-old NBA record by becoming the first player in league history to score 35 points on 50 percent shooting or better in seven straight games.
Oh, by the way, he broke that record by hitting a game-winning shot to beat the Hawks.
It looks like he definitely inherited that ghost of Michael.
