1998–99 Chicago Bulls season

NBA professional basketball team season March 2026 August 2023 Chicago Bulls 1999 13 37 Central 8 15 Tim Floyd Jerry Krause Jerry Reinsdorf United Center Did not qualify CHI WGN-TV(Wayne Larrivee, John Paxson)Fox Sports Chicago(Tom Dore, John Paxson) WMVP(Neil Funk, Johnny "Red" Kerr) The 1998–99 Chicago Bulls season was the 33rd season for the Chicago Bulls in the National Basketball Association. Chicago Bulls Basketball-Reference https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/CHI/ August 6, 2026 This was the first time since the 1993–94 season that Michael Jordan was not on the opening day roster, and for the first time since the 1986–87 season that Scottie Pippen was not on the opening day roster. Due to a lockout, the regular season began on February 5, 1999, and was cut from 82 games to 50 games. CBS News.com Staff NBA: Let The Games Begin! CBS News January 6, 1999 https://www.cbsnews.com/news/nba-let-the-games-begin/ December 15, 2022 Wise Mike With Little Time on Clock, NBA and Players Settle The New York Times January 7, 1999 https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/sports/basketball/010799bkn-labor.html May 17, 2023 Season summary Off-season The Bulls entered the regular season as the three-time defending NBA champions, having defeated the Utah Jazz in the 1998 NBA Finals in six games, winning their sixth NBA championship, and completing a second three-peat in the 1990s. During the offseason, Phil Jackson's resignation as head coach, the departures of Pippen (who was traded to the Houston Rockets), Dennis Rodman (who signed with the Los Angeles Lakers as a free agent), and Jordan's second retirement marked the end of the Bulls' dynasty. Broussard Chris Pro Basketball: Ruining of Bulls Begins in Earnest The New York Times January 20, 1999 https://www.nytimes.com/1999/01/20/sports/pro-basketball-ruining-of-bulls-begins-in-earnest.html October 14, 2021 During the off-season, the team signed free agents Brent Barry, Pro Basketball: Notebook: Chicago Acquires Brent Barry The New York Times January 26, 1999 https://www.nytimes.com/1999/01/26/sports/pro-basketball-notebook-chicago-acquires-brent-barry.html October 3, 2022 Brent Barry Signs with Bulls The Washington Post January 26, 1999 https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1999/01/26/brent-barry-signs-with-bulls/4f31dabb-5396-4ce2-a040-a1415888efec/ January 9, 2023 Smith Sam This Signing Just What Bulls Needed Chicago Tribune January 26, 1999 https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1999-01-26-9901260103-story,amp.html October 14, 2021 and Andrew Lang, acquired Mark Bryant from the Phoenix Suns, Wise Mike Pro Basketball: A Scrum for the Title The New York Times February 4, 1999 https://www.nytimes.com/1999/02/04/sports/pro-basketball-a-scrum-for-the-title.html June 28, 2022 Armour Terry Result Raises Eyebrows--and Some Hope Chicago Tribune February 8, 1999 https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1999-02-08-9902080182-story.html February 2, 2023 Carney Brian Chicago's Temperature Is Minus 23 The Washington Post February 19, 1999 https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1999/02/19/chicagos-temperature-is-minus-23/65942118-be43-4c0d-af07-d3f64b8de51c/ June 27, 2022 and hired Tim Floyd as their new head coach. Heisler Mark Bulls Are Set to Hire Floyd Los Angeles Times July 23, 1998 https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-jul-23-sp-6480-story.html December 15, 2022 Heath Thomas Bulls Set to Hire Floyd, Question is: To Do What? The Washington Post July 23, 1998 https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1998/07/23/bulls-set-to-hire-floyd-question-is-to-do-what/af05722b-4526-423a-9f63-00ce60b44e24/ May 1, 2023 Associated Press Basketball: Floyd Is Hired, But Bulls Still Court Jackson The New York Times July 24, 1998 https://www.nytimes.com/1998/07/24/sports/basketball-floyd-is-hired-but-bulls-still-court-jackson.html November 18, 2022 Regular season Under Floyd, and with the addition of Barry and Bryant, the Bulls were a shell of their former selves, losing eight of their first nine games of the regular season, which included a seven-game losing streak in February. The team posted another seven-game losing streak in April, and lost 14 of their final 17 games of the season. The Bulls finished in last place in the Central Division with a 13–37 record (roughly the equivalent of 21–61), 1998–99 Chicago Bulls Schedule and Results Basketball-Reference https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/CHI/1999_games.html July 15, 2021 missing the NBA playoffs for the first time since the 1983–84 season; the Bulls were just the second defending champions to miss the postseason, behind the 1969–70 Boston Celtics. Toni Kukoč became the team's scoring leader, averaging 18.8 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 5.3 assists per game, while Ron Harper averaged 11.2 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game, and Barry provided the team with 11.1 points per game. In addition, Dickey Simpkins contributed 9.1 points and 6.8 rebounds per game, while Bryant provided with 9.0 points and 5.2 rebounds per game, and Randy Brown contributed 8.8 points, 3.8 assists and 1.7 steals per game. Meanwhile, Hungarian rookie power forward Kornél Dávid averaged 6.2 points and 3.5 rebounds per game, second-year guard Rusty LaRue contributed 4.7 points per game, and Lang provided with 3.8 points and 4.4 rebounds per game, but only played just 21 games due to injury. 1998–99 Chicago Bulls Roster and Stats Basketball-Reference https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/CHI/1999.html July 15, 2021 Brown finished tied in tenth place in Most Improved Player voting. 1998–99 NBA Awards Voting Basketball-Reference https://www.basketball-reference.com/awards/awards_1999.html October 23, 2025 The Bulls led the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 560,012 at the United Center during the regular season. 1998–99 NBA Season Summary Basketball-Reference https://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_1999.html October 9, 2025 Notable highlights One notable game of the regular season occurred on April 10, 1999, in which the Bulls suffered an 82–49 home loss to the Miami Heat at the United Center; the Bulls struggled and only made 18 out of 77 field-goal attempts, and shot just .234 in field-goal percentage. Dávid led the Bulls with a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds off the bench. It was an all-time NBA record for the fewest points scored in a single game, since the shot clock was introduced during the 1954–55 season. Associated Press N.B.A.: Roundup: In Chicago, a Record for Futility The New York Times April 11, 1999 https://www.nytimes.com/1999/04/11/sports/nba-roundup-in-chicago-a-record-for-futility.html October 3, 2022 Armour Terrence E. A Night After 49, Bulls Try to Forget Chicago Tribune April 12, 1999 https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1999-04-12-9904120076-story.html April 6, 2023 Miami Heat at Chicago Bulls Box Score, April 10, 1999 Basketball-Reference https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/199904100CHI.html May 27, 2026 Before that night's game, the NBA had only twelve notable moments where a team scored under 50 points in a match, where most of them occurred during the league's inaugural season, which was known as the Basketball Association of America, including two different matches where a team scored less than 40 points in a game. In addition, the two lowest scoring teams in a game happened in an infamous match on November 22, 1950, between the Fort Wayne Pistons and the Minneapolis Lakers, which resulted in the lowest-scoring NBA match ever recorded in a 19–18 Pistons victory.https://nbahoopsonline.com/History/Records/pointsfew.html Fewest Points Scored in an NBA Game | Lowest-Scoring NBA Records nbahoopsonline.com Aftermath Following the season, Barry was traded to the Seattle SuperSonics, Associated Press Bulls Send Barry to Sonics CBS News August 12, 1999 https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bulls-send-barry-to-sonics/ September 15, 2022 Associated Press N.B.A.: Notebook The New York Times August 13, 1999 https://www.nytimes.com/1999/08/13/sports/nba-notebook.html June 27, 2022 Smith Sam Bulls Get Some Cap Room Chicago Tribune August 13, 1999 https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1999-08-13-9908130096-story.html January 9, 2023 while Harper signed as a free agent with the Los Angeles Lakers to reunite with Jackson, who was hired to coach the Lakers, Kawakami Tim Lakers Trade Harper, to Get Harper?: Pro Basketball: Derek Harper's Departure Clears Cap Room for Ron Harper Los Angeles Times September 22, 1999 https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-sep-22-sp-12931-story.html October 9, 2022 Associated Press Harper Signs with Lakers CBS News October 13, 1999 https://www.cbsnews.com/news/harper-signs-with-lakers/ January 9, 2023 Ron Harper Signs with Lakers Associated Press October 13, 1999 https://apnews.com/article/8da2327b580811b1cbf2180359a4d16d October 14, 2021 Bryant signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers, and Lang and Bill Wennington were both released to free agency. Wise Mike 1999–2000 N.B.A. Preview: The West Is Still the Best The New York Times October 31, 1999 https://www.nytimes.com/1999/10/31/sports/1999-2000-nba-preview-the-west-is-still-the-best.html June 8, 2022 Offseason NBA draft 1998 NBA draft Round Pick Player Position Nationality School/Club team 1 28 Corey Benjamin SG Oregon State 2 34 Shammond Williams PG North Carolina 2 58 Maceo Baston F Michigan Roster Chicago Bulls 1998–99 31 Brent Barry G 6 6 185 1971–12–31 Oregon State 25 Corey Benjamin G 6 6 200 1978–02–24 Oregon State 44 Mario Bennett F 6 6 235 1973–08–01 Arizona State 22 Keith Booth F 6 6 226 1974–10–09 Maryland 1 Randy Brown basketball G 6 2 190 1968–05–22 New Mexico State 2 Mark Bryant basketball F/C 6 9 245 1965–04–25 Seton Hall 21 Cory Carr G 6 3 210 1975–12–05 Texas Tech 18 Kornél Dávid F 6 9 235 1971–10–22 Hungary 9 Ron Harper G/F 6 6 185 1964–01–20 Miami (OH) 11 Charles Jones basketball, born 1975 G 6 3 180 1975–07–17 Long Island University 7 Toni Kukoč F 6 10 192 1968–09–18 Croatia 28 Andrew Lang basketball C 6 11 245 1966–06–28 Arkansas 8 Dickey Simpkins F/C 6 9 248 1972–04–06 Providence 34 Bill Wennington C 7 0 245 1963–04–26 St. John's Tim Floyd Bill Cartwright Frank Hamblen Tex Winter Jim Woolridge Fred Tedeschi (trainer) (IN) Inactive https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/CHI/1999.html February 16, 1999 Regular season Season standings CHI CHI Player statistics Regular season PlayerGPGSMPGFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPGBrent Barry 37 30 31.9 .396 .302 .772 3.9 3.1 1.1 .3 11.1Corey Benjamin 31 1 10.3 .376 .214 .675 1.3 .3 .4 .3 3.8Mario Bennett 3 0 6.3 .333 .750 1.7 .0 .3 .0 2.3Keith Booth 39 4 11.1 .325 .100 .500 2.4 1.0 .6 .3 3.1Randy Brown basketball 39 32 29.2 .414 .000 .757 3.4 3.8 1.7 .2 8.8Mark Bryant basketball 45 29 26.8 .483 .000 .645 5.2 1.1 .8 .4 9.0Cory Carr 42 7 14.9 .329 .167 .750 1.2 1.6 .5 .2 4.1Kornél Dávid 50 6 18.0 .449 .000 .811 3.5 .8 .5 .3 6.2Ron Harper 35 35 31.6 .377 .318 .703 5.1 3.3 1.7 1.0 11.2Charles Jones basketball, born 1975 29 5 16.4 .317 .311 .500 1.4 1.4 .6 .2 3.7Toni Kukoč 44 44 37.6 .420 .285 .740 7.0 5.3 1.1 .3 18.8Andrew Lang basketball 21 13 18.4 .323 .696 4.4 .6 .2 .6 3.8Rusty LaRue 43 6 17.0 .359 .337 1.000 1.3 1.5 .8 .1 4.7Dickey Simpkins 50 35 29.0 .463 .000 .645 6.8 1.3 .7 .3 9.1Bill Wennington 38 3 11.9 .348 1.000 .818 2.1 .5 .3 .3 3.8 Player statistics citation: Awards and records In a home game against the Miami Heat on April 10, 1999, the Bulls scored 49 points, the fewest by any team since the shot clock was introduced in 1954. Transactions Players added Via draft Corey Benjamin Via trade Mario Bennett Mark Bryant Andrew Lang Via free agency Brent Barry Kornél DávidPlayers lost Via trade Steve Kerr Luc Longley Scottie Pippen Via free agency Jud Buechler Scott Burrell Joe Kleine Dennis Rodman Retired Michael Jordan References External links Bulls on Database Basketball Bulls on Basketball Reference How the Chicago Bulls self-destructed after Michael Jordan and Phil Jackson left SB Nation April 18, 2019 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_yb5o5dM2U&list=PLUXSZMIiUfFQ_PvIFxhH7yQ3Hd-lNkWJn&index=6 https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/t_yb5o5dM2U 2021-12-12 live YouTube Category:Chicago Bulls seasons Chic Chicago Chicago Category:1998 in Chicago Category:1999 in Chicago