Kirk Hinrich will never be beloved in Chicago. He’s been trade bait for the past three seasons, due to his contract (which definitely overpays him at $9.5 million, but decreases the next two seasons), and a long shooting slump he wandered into. Its fans are too busy morning the loss of Ben Gordon’s incredible ability to hijack possessions or whining about how Taj Gibson was a terrible draft pick as he continues to rack up double-doubles and improve this season.
Hinrich is a defensive-stopper combo-guard who, throughout the course of his career, has been an okay-to-good shooter. Not the stuff that goes on posters and YouTube very often. So few will recognize the accomplishment Hinrich set last night as he hit his 771st three-pointer as a Bull, becoming the all-time franchise leader for made three-pointers.
After the game, Hinrich was predictably low-key about the accomplishment, saying essentially that he only held it because he’d been with the Bulls for seven seasons. Hinrich passed Gordon, which really puts forward the fact that no great three-point shooters have stayed in Chicago for very long.
Still, it’s a shame that Hinrich’s contributions to the team aren’t more noticed, as he may not be the flashiest player or able to nail pull-up 35 foot threes instead of working the offense, but he’s still proven to have had quite the career.