1966–67 Chicago Bulls season

The 1966–67 Chicago Bulls season was the first season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

1966–67 Chicago Bulls season
Head coachJohnny "Red" Kerr
ArenaInternational Amphitheatre
Results
Record33–48 (.407)
PlaceDivision: 4th (Western)
Playoff finishWest Division Semifinals
(Lost to Hawks 0–3)
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
TelevisionWGN-TV
(Jack Brickhouse, Vince Lloyd)
RadioWGN
(Lou Boudreau, Vince Lloyd)

Draft picks
Main article: 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
Roster listing
1966–67 Chicago Bulls roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.NameHeightWeightDOB (YYYY-MM-DD)From
F 19 Boozer, Bob 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Kansas State
C 12 Bowman, Nate 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Wichita State
F/C 17 Chappell, Len 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Wake Forest
F 16 Clemens, Barry 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Ohio Wesleyan
G/F 15 Erickson, Keith 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) UCLA
F 9 Kojis, Don 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 202 lb (92 kg) Marquette
F/C 18 McLemore, McCoy 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Drake
F/C 14 Mueller, Erwin 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 230 lb (104 kg) San Francisco
G 5 Rodgers, Guy 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Wake Forest
G 8 Schellhase, Dave 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Purdue
G/F 4 Sloan, Jerry 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Evansville
G 6 Ward, Gerry 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Boston College
F/C 7 Washington, Jim 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Villanova
C 17 Wilson, George 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Cincinnati
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

Regular season

The brand-new Chicago Bulls franchise earned its first victory on October 15, 1966, with a 104–97 win over the St. Louis Hawks. The team's coach was Johnny "Red" Kerr, a former player with the Syracuse Nationals, the Philadelphia 76ers, and the Baltimore Bullets. He is one of a select group of players to surpass the 10,000 mark in both rebounds and points, and he held the league record for consecutive games played with 844 until Randy Smith eclipsed his mark during the 1982–83 season.

Chicago's starting lineup on opening night included Len Chappell, Bob Boozer, Don Kojis, Jerry Sloan, and Guy Rodgers. In the team's victorious debut against St. Louis, Rodgers poured in a game-high 37 points. Three days later the Bulls ran their record to 2–0 by defeating the San Francisco Warriors, 119-116. Then, behind 34 points and 18 assists from Rodgers, Chicago upped its winning streak to three games with a 134–124 triumph over the defending Western Division champion Los Angeles Lakers.

Chicago finished with a 33–48 record, the best ever by an expansion team in its first year of play. The Bulls secured a playoff berth in the Western Division, but the Hawks eliminated them in the opening round. Kerr was named NBA Coach of the Year, and center Erwin Mueller made the NBA All-Rookie Team. Rodgers led the NBA in assists with 11.2 per game (including a club-record 24 against the New York Knicks on December 21) and also topped the team in scoring at 18.0 points per game. Rodgers and Sloan represented the new franchise in the 1967 NBA All-Star Game.

Season standings
Western Division W L PCT GB Home Road Neutral Div
x-San Francisco Warriors 4437.543–18–1011–1915–824–12
x-St. Louis Hawks 3942.481518–1112–219–1021–15
x-Los Angeles Lakers 3645.444821–1812–203–714–22
x-Chicago Bulls 3348.4071117–199–177–1217–19
Detroit Pistons 3051.3701412–189–199–1414–22

Record vs. opponents
1966–67 NBA records
Team BAL BOS CHI CIN DET LAL NYK PHI SFW STL
Baltimore —1–83–63–62–72–72–71–82–74–5
Boston 8–1—8–18–16–35–49–05–46–35–4
Chicago 6–31–8—5–44–56–33–61–83–64–5
Cincinnati 6–31–84–5—7–23–66–31–85–46–3
Detroit 7–23–65–42–7—5–44–50–92–72–7
Los Angeles 7–24–53–66–34–5—4–51–83–64–5
New York 7–20–96–33–65–45–4—1–85–44–5
Philadelphia 8–14–58–18–19–08–18–1—7–28–1
San Francisco 7–23–66–34–57–26–34–52–7—5–4
St. Louis 5–44–55–43–67–25–45–41–84–5—

Playoffs

West Division Semifinals

(2) St. Louis Hawks vs. (4) Chicago Bulls: Hawks win series 3-0

  • Game 1 @ St. Louis: St. Louis 114, Chicago 100
  • Game 2 @ Chicago: St. Louis 113, Chicago 107
  • Game 3 @ St. Louis: St. Louis 119, Chicago 106

Awards and records

References
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