1966–67 Chicago Bulls season

NBA professional basketball team season (inaugural season) March 2026 August 2023 Chicago Bulls 1967 33 48 Western 4 Johnny "Red" Kerr Dick Klein Dick Klein International Amphitheatre Division semifinals(lost to Hawks 0–3) CHI WGN-TV(Jack Brickhouse, Vince Lloyd) WGN(Lou Boudreau, Vince Lloyd) 1 The 1966–67 Chicago Bulls season was the first for the expansion franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA) after failed attempts by the Chicago Stags and Packers-turned-Zephyrs to bring pro basketball to the second-largest market in the country. While not an artistic success—the so-called "Baby Bulls" routinely played to half capacity at the 9,000-seat International Amphitheater on the near South Side—the debut proved to be memorable and even historic just the same. General manager-team owner Dick Klein and his modest staff assembled a scrappy group of players whose play style reflected the blue-collar nature of the city itself. The Bulls finished the regular season with a 33–48 record, the best ever by an NBA expansion team at the time, which resulted in a playoff berth making them the first team in professional sports to secure a post-season berth on its first try. Draft picks 1966 NBA draft Note: This is not an extensive list; it only covers the first and second rounds, and any other players drafted by the franchise that played at least one NBA game. Round Pick Player Position Nationality School/Club team 1 10 Dave Schellhase G United States Purdue 2 20 Erwin Mueller F/C United States San Francisco Roster Chicago Bulls 1966–67 19 Bob Boozer F 6 8 215 1937-04-26 Kansas State 12 Nate Bowman C 6 10 230 1943-03-19 Wichita State 16 Barry Clemens F 6 6 210 1943-05-01 Ohio Wesleyan 15 Keith Erickson F 6 5 195 1944-04-19 Los Angeles 9 Don Kojis F 6 3 202 1939-01-15 Marquette 18 McCoy McLemore F 6 7 230 1942-04-03 Drake 14 Erwin Mueller C 6 8 230 1944-03-12 San Francisco 5 Guy Rodgers G 6 0 185 1935-09-01 Temple 8 Dave Schellhase G 6 3 205 1944-10-14 Purdue 4 Jerry Sloan G 6 5 195 1942-03-28 Evansville 6 Gerry Ward basketball G 6 4 195 1941-09-06 Boston College 7 Jim Washington F 6 6 210 1943-07-01 Villanova 17 George Wilson basketball, born 1942 C 6 8 225 1942-05-09 Cincinnati Johnny "Red" Kerr Al Bianchi https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/CHI/1967.html November 25, 1966 Regular season The expansion draft left the Bulls with a roster full of untested and past-their-prime candidates. First-rounder Dave Schellhase spent his first season on the bench, and only Erwin Mueller made a contribution among the 10 picks. Nonetheless, the ability of head coach Johnny "Red" Kerr and his assistant-former teammate Al Bianchi to get the most out of the group allowed them to be relevant from the start. Even though Kerr had never coached at the pro level previously, his extensive experience as a player with the Syracuse Nationals, Philadelphia 76ers and Baltimore Bullets and affable personality served him well in the face of some trying times. The Bulls broke out of the gate quickly on October 15 with a 104–97 road win over the St. Louis Hawks that raised eyebrows around the league. Beforehand, Hawks coach Richie Guerin had predicted the expansion club would not win more than 20 games the entire season. The starting lineup on opening night included center Len Chappell, forwards Bob Boozer and Don Kojis and guards Jerry Sloan and Guy Rodgers, a three-time All-Star and most established player on the roster. Rodgers led the way with a game-high 37 points in the inaugural victory. The Bulls extended their record to 2–0 in a 119–116 victory over the San Francisco Warriors at the Amphitheater. Behind 34 points and 18 assists by Rodgers, they extended the win streak to three games in a 134–124 triumph over the defending Western Division champions Los Angeles Lakers at home. A lack of star power and inside presence brought the team down to the Earth before long, but not before it surprised the basketball world with a postseason berth. Kerr was named Coach of the Year, while Mueller earned a spot on the All-Rookie Team. Rodgers led the league in assists with 11.2 per game (including a club record 24 against the New York Knicks on December 21) and paced the team in scoring at 18.0 points per game. Rodgers and Sloan represented the team in the NBA All-Star Game. Postseason The first appearance for the Bulls in the playoffs was a brief one. The more talented and experienced St. Louis Hawks swept them in three games. Their only home date in the series (Game 3) was moved from the International Amphitheater to the Chicago Coliseum because of a schedule conflict. Season standings CHI Game log 1966–67 game log # Date Opponent Score High points Record 1 October 15 @ St. Louis 104–97 Guy Rodgers (36) 1–0 2 October 18 San Francisco 116–119 Jerry Sloan (26) 2–0 3 October 19 Los Angeles 124–134 Guy Rodgers (34) 3–0 4 October 20 N San Francisco 121–111 Guy Rodgers (26) 3–1 5 October 21 @ Los Angeles 108–101 Keith Erickson (20) 4–1 6 October 23 New York 124–105 Bob Boozer (20) 4–2 7 October 27 N Boston 100–123 Jerry Sloan (25) 4–3 8 October 28 N Detroit 129–117 Bob Boozer (31) 4–4 9 November 1 San Francisco 137–121 Erwin Mueller (31) 4–5 10 November 2 Baltimore 94–102 Erwin Mueller (26) 5–5 11 November 3 N Boston 108–137 Guy Rodgers (16) 5–6 12 November 5 @ Cincinnati 113–99 Jerry Sloan (22) 6–6 13 November 6 St. Louis 102–134 Keith Erickson (22) 7–6 14 November 8 Boston 112–101 Jerry Sloan (21) 7–7 15 November 9 New York 103–98 Guy Rodgers (36) 7–8 16 November 11 @ Philadelphia 113–126 Bob Boozer (22) 7–9 17 November 13 Philadelphia 132–126 Guy Rodgers (35) 7–10 18 November 15 @ St. Louis 99–107 Bob Boozer (18) 7–11 19 November 17 @ Baltimore 102–120 Guy Rodgers (24) 7–12 20 November 18 N Philadelphia 145–120 Barry Clemens (16) 7–13 21 November 19 @ New York 104–116 Bob Boozer (19) 7–14 22 November 23 @ Los Angeles 130–154 Guy Rodgers (25) 7–15 23 November 25 @ Los Angeles 121–117 Bob Boozer (17) 8–15 24 November 26 @ San Francisco 129–131 Don Kojis (24) 8–16 25 November 29 N San Francisco 108–101 Bob Boozer (19) 8–17 26 December 3 @ Detroit 98–104 Bob Boozer (29) 8–18 27 December 6 @ Philadelphia 119–129 Keith Erickson (28) 8–19 28 December 7 Philadelphia 117–103 Jim Washington (20) 8–20 29 December 8 N Baltimore 132–120 Bob Boozer (30) 9–20 30 December 10 @ Boston 110–125 Jerry Sloan (25) 9–21 31 December 13 N Baltimore 94–122 Jerry Sloan (30) 9–22 32 December 14 N Detroit 87–93 Jerry Sloan (17) 10–22 33 December 16 N Cincinnati 120–128 Jerry Sloan (30) 11–22 34 December 17 @ Baltimore 110–106 Jerry Sloan (27) 12–22 35 December 19 N St. Louis 97–102 Jerry Sloan (24) 13–22 36 December 21 New York 107–110 Boozer, Kojis (22) 14–22 37 December 23 Detroit 103–102 Guy Rodgers (27) 14–23 38 December 25 @ New York 132–133 Bob Boozer (40) 14–24 39 December 26 Baltimore 96–108 Guy Rodgers (34) 15–24 40 December 30 Boston 110–106 Bob Boozer (26) 15–25 41 January 3 Cincinnati 111–116 Guy Rodgers (39) 16–25 42 January 4 @ Philadelphia 115–136 Boozer, Mueller (20) 16–26 43 January 6 @ Detroit 135–126 Guy Rodgers (30) 17–26 44 January 7 @ Cincinnati 112–125 Erwin Mueller (25) 17–27 45 January 8 Philadelphia 117–108 Erwin Mueller (26) 17–28 46 January 11 Cincinnati 106–102 Jerry Sloan (28) 17–29 47 January 13 @ Boston 102–122 Bob Boozer (19) 17–30 48 January 14 Los Angeles 121–122 Guy Rodgers (39) 18–30 49 January 15 New York 116–131 Bob Boozer (33) 19–30 50 January 17 Boston 109–101 Jerry Sloan (28) 19–31 51 January 18 N San Francisco 107–111 Jim Washington (19) 20–31 52 January 19 N Philadelphia 127–102 Don Kojis (17) 20–32 53 January 20 Detroit 124–125 (OT) Bob Boozer (27) 21–32 54 January 22 Baltimore 114–118 Bob Boozer (26) 22–32 55 January 24 Detroit 108–95 Guy Rodgers (21) 22–33 56 January 25 St. Louis 103–102 Boozer, Sloan (18) 22–34 57 January 29 Los Angeles 142–122 Bob Boozer (29) 22–35 58 February 3 Cincinnati 113–118 Don Kojis (23) 23–35 59 February 4 @ St. Louis 111–119 Jerry Sloan (18) 23–36 60 February 5 San Francisco 142–141 (OT) Bob Boozer (32) 23–37 61 February 7 Detroit 98–90 McCoy McLemore (23) 23–38 62 February 8 N New York 106–103 Boozer, Sloan (25) 23–39 63 February 10 N New York 122–121 Jim Washington (21) 23–40 64 February 11 St. Louis 104–98 Jerry Sloan (24) 23–41 65 February 12 @ Los Angeles 121–129 Don Kojis (42) 23–42 66 February 16 N San Francisco 125–124 Bob Boozer (22) 23–43 67 February 19 @ Los Angeles 133–119 Jerry Sloan (31) 24–43 68 February 22 N New York 103–117 Bob Boozer (23) 25–43 69 February 26 @ Baltimore 106–124 Don Kojis (18) 25–44 70 March 1 N Philadelphia 122–129 Jerry Sloan (22) 26–44 71 March 2 N Boston 108–114 Bob Boozer (20) 26–45 72 March 4 @ St. Louis 125–122 Boozer, Mueller (20) 27–45 73 March 5 Cincinnati 106–113 Guy Rodgers (29) 28–45 74 March 7 Boston 114–117 Guy Rodgers (22) 29–45 75 March 10 Baltimore 115–132 Don Kojis (22) 30–45 76 March 11 @ Cincinnati 119–147 Guy Rodgers (16) 30–46 77 March 13 Cincinnati 133–117 Bob Boozer (29) 30–47 78 March 14 St. Louis 111–98 Jerry Sloan (30) 30–48 79 March 15 @ Detroit 98–91 Jerry Sloan (32) 31–48 80 March 17 San Francisco 117–120 Erwin Mueller (27) 32–48 81 March 19 Los Angeles 109–122 Bob Boozer (24) 33–48 Playoffs Chicago Bulls yes 1967 Chicago Bulls Division semifinals yes yes no 0 1 0 2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 1 | March 21 | @ St. Louis | L 100–114 | Kojis, Boozer (18) | Bob Boozer (13) | Rodgers, Clemens (2) | Kiel Auditorium4,704 | 0–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 2 | March 23 | St. Louis | L 107–113 | Bob Boozer (25) | Kojis, Boozer (11) | Guy Rodgers (11) | International Amphitheatre3,739 | 0–2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 3 | March 25 | @ St. Louis | L 106–119 | McCoy McLemore (18) | Bob Boozer (11) | Guy Rodgers (5) | Kiel Auditorium7,018 | 0–3 |- CHI yes 1967 Awards and records Johnny "Red" Kerr, NBA Coach of the Year Award Erwin Mueller, NBA All-Rookie Team 1st Team Guy Rodgers, NBA All-Star Game Jerry Sloan, NBA All-Star Game References Category:Chicago Bulls seasons Chicago Chicago Bulls Chicago Bulls