Top 5 players from Chicago Bulls who could've won the NBA Championship but didn't

The Chicago Bulls have had one of the greatest teams in NBA history, but have not had that level of success throughout their history.

Outside the LA Lakers and Boston Celtics, who both have 17 championships apiece, the Bulls are one of the more successful NBA franchises with six titles. Amazingly, all of those six championship came in as many appearances in the NBA Finals, thanks to arguably the greatest player of all time, Michael Jordan.

With a combination of offensive and defensive genius, the Chicago Bulls dominated the 1990's era. The Jordan-Pippen era was one of the greatest in NBA history, winning six championships that decade, despite MJ being retired for two years.

Unfortunately, the Chicago Bulls have not had deep runs in the playoffs in recent years. For the last four years, they have missed out on postseason action. However, the Chicago Bulls' 2021-22 campaign holds promise, as they have put together a rather impressive but underrated team.

They had an exciting offseason, acquiring Lonzo Ball and DeMar DeRozan to join Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic. While an NBA Finals appearance is highly unlikely, they stand a good chance of at least making the playoffs.

On that note, here are the top five players from the Chicago Bulls who came close to winning a championship but didn't.

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#5 Artis Gilmore

Artis Gilmore, former Chicago Bulls player

Artist Gilmore was drafted by both the Chicago Bulls in the NBA and the ABA's Kentucky Colonels in 1971. However, he played for the ABA team for five years before featuring in the NBA.

Gilmore made the All-Star selection in the five seasons he spent in the ABA with the Colonels, winning a championship. His six-and-a-half-year stint with the Chicago Bulls was nearly as successful, as he made four All-Star appearances. Unfortunately, he failed to win a championship with the Bulls, making it only as far as the Eastern Conference Finals in the 1980-81 season.

The A-Train led the NBA in field goals for four consecutive seasons, and was the league's career leader in field goal percentage at the time of his retirement.

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#4 Chet Walker

The Syracuse Nationals (now Philadelphia 76ers) selected Chet Walker in the 1962 NBA draft. But Walker joined the Chicago Bulls seven years later. Although he won the NBA title during his stint with the Sixers, he failed to replicate the same success with the Bulls.

Walker made four All-Star appearances with the Chicago Bulls, and had his deepest playoff run during the 1974-75 season. He reached the Conference Finals, where the Bulls fell to the Golden State Warriors in seven games.

Chet the Jet was an all-around athlete. His speed and athleticism earned him that nickname. Walker was also known for his accuracy from the free-throw line, leading the NBA in free-throw shooting (85.9%) during the 1970-71 season.

#3 Joakim Noah

Joakim Noah (#55) of the Memphis Grizzlies

Joakim Noah was selected with the ninth overall pick by the Chicago Bulls in the 2007 NBA draft. He spent nine seasons with the team, making two All-Star appearances in his career, both in a Bulls uniform. In the 2013-14 season, he won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year.

In terms of his playoff success, Noah was part of the Chicago Bulls team that reached the 2011 NBA Eastern Conference Finals. But the Bulls lost that series in five games to LeBron James and the Miami Heat. That was their deepest run since the 1998 season, when they won the NBA Finals.

While Noah is not an elite scorer, he made more of an impact at the defensive end. He was part of the reason the 2010-11 Chicago Bulls finished the season ranked first in defensive rating.

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#2 Luol Deng

DeMar DeRozan (#10) of the Toronto Raptors dribbles the ball as Luol Deng (#9) of the Miami Heat

The Phoenix Suns selected Luol Deng with the seventh overall pick in the 2004 NBA draft, but immediately traded him to the Chicago Bulls. He made an instant impact as a rookie, helping the team reach the NBA playoffs after a seven-year hiatus.

While he was an efficient scorer, he was also an elite perimeter defender. During his ten-year stint with the Chicago Bulls, he averaged 16.1 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.5 assists.

Despite his efficiency at both ends of the court for the Chicago Bulls, he fell short of a championship in 2011. That year, the Bulls got knocked out in the Conference Finals in five games by the Miami Heat. According to Eric Bressman of Dime magazine, Deng was the;

"Most underrated player who was never the face of the franchise but always the backbone."

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#1 Derrick Rose

Derrick Rose (#4) of the New York Knicks

Derrick Rose was by far the best thing that has happened to the Chicago Bulls since Michael Jordan. He was the spark for a franchise that struggled to win post-Jordan.

Rose was selected with the first overall pick in the 2008 NBA draft. That bore immediate fruit for the Chicago Bulls. After several awe-inspiring performances, he won the 2011 MVP award, becoming the youngest player in NBA history to win it and also the second player behind MJ in franchise history.

Unfortunately, he tore his ACL in Round 1 Game 1 of the 2012 NBA playoffs. After missing a full season due to injury, his career took a downward spiral as he battled several other career-ending injuries.

Many wonder what would have been if the three-time All-Star had remained healthy in his peak period. After several years of rehabilitation and bouncing around from one team to another, D-Rose is gradually finding his form.

Derrick Rose partnered with Tom Thibodeau midway through the 2020-21 season. helping the New York Knicks reach the NBA playoffs for the first time since the 2012-13 season. It is also worth noting that he was the best player for the Knicks in their first-round tie against the Atlanta Hawks, which the Knicks eventually lost.