The Top 5 Scoring Leaders in Chicago Bulls History
Established in 1966, the Chicago Bulls have been one of the most prominent and successful teams in National Basketball Association (NBA) history. The team has made the playoffs in 36 of its 56 seasons and won six championships, all of which occurred from 1990 to 1998 when Phil Jackson was head coach. Michael Jordan, arguably the greatest basketball player of all-time, and Scottie Pippen were key contributors to those championship teams and rank first and second, respectively, in all-time franchise scoring.
Below is a closer look at the careers of Jordan, Pippen, and the three other players who round out the Bulls’ top five all-time scorers.
1. Michael Jordan (29,277)
Selected third overall by the Bulls in the 1984 NBA Draft, Jordan was the 1984–85 NBA Rookie of the Year after averaging 28.2 points, 6.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists, and 2.4 steals per game. He led the league in scoring with a career-best 37.1 points per game in the 1986–87 season and led all players in scoring in nine of the following 10 seasons before retiring in 1998. Jordan stayed in retirement for three seasons before returning in 2001 to play two seasons for the Washington Wizards.
Over 930 games with the Bulls, Jordan produced a franchise-best 29,277 points (31.5 per game). He made the Eastern Conference All-Star team 12 times and was a five-time MVP with Chicago. He was also a six-time NBA Finals MVP and made the All-Defensive team nine times. Jordan was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009.
A dynamic, all-around player, Jordan is the Bulls’ all-time leader in many other statistical categories, including field goals (10,962), free throws (6,798), defensive rebounds (4,289), assists (5,012), and steals (2,306).
2. Scottie Pippen (15,123)
A key contributor to the Bulls’ six championships in eight seasons, Pippen was the Robin to Michael Jordan’s Batman, although the two have had a strained relationship since the release of Netflix’s Last Dance, a 10-part ESPN documentary that chronicled the Bulls dynasty.
“Each episode was the same: Michael on a pedestal, his teammates secondary, smaller, the message no different from when he referred to us back then as his ‘supporting cast,’” Pippen expressed in his memoir, Unguarded. “From one season to the next, we received little or no credit whenever we won but the bulk of the criticism when we lost.”
To his credit, Pippen was an all-time great talent who earned induction into the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame in 2010. The Hamburg, Arkansas, native was acquired by the Bulls on a draft day trade on June 22, 1987, and he spent 12 seasons with the team. He accumulated 15,123 points (17.7 per game). Pippen, also the Bulls’ all-time leader in personal fouls, led the NBA in steals in the 1994–95 season and was a 10-time All-Defensive team member.
3. Bob Love (12,623)
A three-time NBA All-Star and three-time All-Defensive team member, Bob Love played nine seasons for the Bulls from 1968–69 to 1976–77. He accumulated 12,623 points (21.3 per game) through 592 career regular season games with Chicago, including a career-best 25.8 points during his All-Star campaign in 1971–72.
Selected by the Cincinnati Royals in the fourth round of the 1965 NBA Draft, Love also played two seasons with the now-defunct franchise as well as one season with the New York Nets (now Brooklyn Nets), Milwaukee Bucks, and Seattle SuperSonics (now Oklahoma City Thunder).
4. Luol Deng (10,286)
A native of South Sudan, Luol Deng was selected seventh overall by the Phoenix Suns in the 2004 NBA Draft but didn’t play a single game for the Western Conference team. Instead, he was traded on his draft day to the Bulls in exchange for Jackson Vroman and a 2005 first-round pick. Deng spent 10 seasons in Chicago and later played for the Miami Heat, Los Angeles Lakers, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Minnesota Timberwolves.
Through 637 career regular season games with the Bulls, Deng scored 10,286 points (16.1 per game). He also averaged 6.4 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. He made the Eastern Conference All-Star team in 2011–12 and 2012–13 and led the league in minutes played in both of those seasons. He finished 19th in league scoring with a career-high 18.8 points per game during the 2006–07 season.
Deng is also among the top 10 Bulls in several other statistical categories, including games played (sixth), field goal goals (fifth), defensive rebounds (sixth), and steals (fifth).
5. Jerry Sloan (10,233)
A shooting guard best known for his defensive acumen, Jerry Sloan made the NBA All-Defensive team six times through 10 seasons with the Bulls. He retired as a player following the 1975–76 season and accumulated 10,233 points with the Bulls (14.7 per game).
Sloan, who died in 2020 at the age of 78, started coaching after retiring as a player and spent parts of three seasons as head coach of the Bulls. He began coaching the Utah Jazz in the late 1980s and accumulated 1,233 victories with the team. Sloan was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach in 2009.
