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15 years ago, Bulls hit lottery luck to draft Rose

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Fifteen years ago, the Chicago Bulls struck lottery gold.

At 1.7 percent, they overcame the second-longest odds in the history of the NBA draft lottery to vault from ninth to first and earn the right ultimately to select hometown hero Derrick Rose.

Only the Orlando Magic in 1993 overcame longer odds. That franchise cashed in a 1.52 percent chance to jump from 11th and ultimately select Chris Webber.

The Bulls enter Tuesday’s draft lottery with 1.8 percent odds to jump from 11th to first and earn the right to select French sensation Victor Wembanyama. Given the similar percentage prayer the Bulls have, here’s a look back at the 15th anniversary of Rose miraculously staying home.

The backroom

Brandon Faber knew before anyone else associated with the Bulls.

Then a public and media relations staffer for the Bulls, Faber sat sequestered in Conference Room 3A inside a nondescript TV studio in Secaucus, N.J. That’s where the NBA used to stage its annual draft lottery.

Now vice president of communications for the Chicago Bears---with a stop leading the Chicago Blackhawks media relations department during their recent Stanley Cup run---Faber couldn’t tell anyone of the Bulls’ good fortune. In order to enter the room, all team representatives and various league and network staffers must surrender their smart phones and any potential contact with the outside world.

But as first a ping-pong ball with the No. 11 landed out of the hopper, followed by Nos. 9, 7 and lucky 13, Faber couldn’t believe the Bulls’ luck. They owned a mere 17 chances out of 1,001 possible numerical combinations.

“They gave you a notebook. And I remember saying, 'I don't know why I'm doing this, but I'm going to write down these numbers and act like I'm keeping track,' " Faber said in a 2018 phone interview with the Chicago Tribune. "As I'm keeping track of the numbers, I'm like, 'We got the first number. That seems like it works.' The next number, I'm like, 'Wow, we got the second number.' Then they called the third number. And I was like, 'All right, I'm either doing this wrong or we're incredibly close to winning this thing.'

"And they called the last number. And I'm like, 'Holy cow, there's no way.' "

Faber already had given his two weeks’ notice to accept the promotion to run the Blackhawks’ media relations department. What a way to go out.

The executive

John Paxson wasn’t even watching the broadcast.

Following a disappointing 2007-08 season in which he fired Scott Skiles on Christmas Eve and the Bulls missed the playoffs for the first time in three years, Paxson sat upstairs in his north suburban home.

“I was trying to distract myself because I didn't want to pay attention to it because the odds were so against us. I was trying to keep my mind occupied,” Paxson said in a 2018 interview with the Chicago Tribune. "My family was downstairs. When we knew we had jumped (into the top three), that's when they got my attention. Even at that point, I didn't watch. I let them narrate the outcome."

That outcome put the Bulls in the driver’s seat for the upcoming draft, which featured a debate between Rose and silky smooth college scorer Michael Beasley. While Rose became the youngest most valuable player in NBA history and Beasley endured an up-and-down career playing for seven teams, that debate wasn’t the slam dunk decision some revisionist history has made it out to be.

Paxson was just happy to have been given the opportunity to do the predraft work to decide between the two players.

The marketer

Steve Schanwald, the Bulls’ longtime executive vice president of marketing and business operations, represented the Bulls on stage for the broadcast portion of the event. While Faber already knew the outcome sequestered in his windowless room, Schanwald reacted with excitement as then-deputy commissioner Adam Silver unveiled the winner.

Always the marketer, Schanwald immediately rattled off the Bulls’ phone number for season tickets on national TV. Making the scene even more surreal, he did so with Dwyane Wade and Fred Hoiberg standing next to him.

Wade, the Richards High School phenom who later would shockingly leave his beloved Miami Heat for a one-season experiment with his hometown Bulls, served as the Heat’s on-stage representative. Hoiberg, the former Bull and future Bulls coach, did the same for the Minnesota Timberwolves in his role as assistant general manager.

The player

Rose watched the lottery from Los Angeles, where he had begun his predraft workouts under the auspices of B.J. Armstrong, his longtime agent and former Bulls guard.

Some players shy away from or don’t fully embrace playing for their hometown franchise. Over the years, Rose consistently talked about how much joy and honor he felt in doing so---an opportunity created by massive luck.

During his rookie season, Faber introduced himself to Rose since both worked at the United Center. Faber asked Rose to sign a No. 1 Bulls jersey.

Rose wrote, “Thanks for playing the lottery.”

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