Ceremony Details, First Inductees, Selection Criteria For Bulls' Ring Of Honor

Several professional teams across the major sports in the United States have their own Ring of Honor, including the hometown Chicago Bears. The Bulls are the latest to announce their prestigious group, an honor highlighting the best players, staff members, and teams that Chicago has seen throughout the franchise's history. Although the ceremony is still a month away, the Bulls have already released the first members that will be inducted, and it's raised some questions amongst the fanbase. Who is in, who was left out, what is the criteria, and when's the ceremony?

Jordan, Pippen, Rodman Highlight First Class

As expected, Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and Dennis Rodman will headline the first class of Chicago's Ring of Honor. Although plans of this nature take years of production behind the scenes, many wonder if this is the Bulls' plea to bring Jordan back to the United Center for the first time since 2011 and reignite a team and fanbase that's suffered thus far this season. Before Zach LaVine's injury, the team was 5-14 and amongst the worst records across the NBA. Since being sidelined to injury, Chicago has gone 5-2 and owns the second-best record leaguewide in that span.

The entire first class is Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, Bob Love, Artis Gilmore, Jerry Sloan, Chet Walker, Phil Jackson, Johnny "Red" Kerr, Dick Klein, Jerry Krause, Tex Winter, and the 1995-96' NBA Championship Chicago Bulls team.

It'll be interesting to track who is there in person to receive their recognition. Things have gotten tense between several members of Bulls' history since the release of the Netflix documentary, "The Last Dance," which was told mainly through the eyes of Jordan. Pippen led the charge in disputing how he and others were portrayed in the film. His ex-wife reportedly dates Jordan's son, Marcus, throwing another wildcard in the relationship of the former teammates.

Ceremony Details

The Bulls will hold their Ring of Honor ceremony in the United Center at halftime on January 12th, 2024. Per the team website, "some of the members will be recognized on-court". In addition to the ceremony, the United Center atrium will feature "never before seen memorabilia," and fans will "have a unique opportunity to get up close with Bulls history" from January 10th to January 12th. Chicago will host the Houston Rockets on January 10th and the Golden State Warriors on January 12th, and the atrium will be set up for both outings.

While none of the inductees have verbally committed to being present for the ceremony, it's safe to expect at least several members to be honored in person for Chicago's first-ever Ring of Honor induction.

Qualifications For Entry Into Ring Of Honor

The Bulls have also set forth a set of prerequisites to be eligible for induction, with many details being left to discretion. Some requirements are black and white, such as needing to have played for the Chicago Bulls for at least three seasons. In contrast, others are left to interpretation, like having demonstrated exceptional character and integrity both on and off the court and throughout their playing career and retirement. Here's the complete list the team has established per the Chicago Bulls' team website.

• Players must have spent at least three seasons with the Chicago Bulls
• Players must have retired from basketball for at least three years
• Staff must have made significant contributions to the Chicago Bulls
• Staff must have made an impact on championships or league awards
• All honorees must have significant achievements with the Bulls, made a meaningful contribution to team success or hold records that have sustained throughout team history
• All honorees must have demonstrated exceptional character and integrity both on and off the court and throughout their playing career and retirement

Reading through the list, it's evident why more recent names like Joakim Noah or Derrick Rose are not being inducted but will be in the future. For the first class, all members are also in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and have their banners raised in Chicago.

There will also be a virtual Ring of Honor experience on January 10th on the Chicago Bulls website. Who do you want to see inducted in the future, and can Jordan and Pippen use this opportunity to bury the hatchet once and for all?