Chicago Bulls: 15 toughest players in franchise history
24. . SG. (1994-99). Ron Harper. 9. player
Ron Harper didn’t spend a lot of time in Chicago playing for the Bulls, but boy, were they productive years. From 1994 to 1999, Harper played on three NBA Championship teams, including his first year with the team in which they won a remarkable 72 games.
He may have only averaged 7.9 points per game while he was with the team, but he didn’t need to score any more than that. Obviously, the Bulls offense during those years came primarily from Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen.
What Harper did bring to that squad was an unrelenting and smothering defense. In fact, recently there has been a lot of discussion around who would win in a series between the 1995-96 Bulls and the recent version of the Golden State Warriors.
When those conversations come up, Harper is often talked about as the defender who would guard Stephen Curry because of his defensive prowess.
Harper didn’t lack confidence either. Regarding the aforementioned hypothetical battle between the Bulls and the Warriors, Harper has pretty strong feelings about who would come out victorious.
Not only does Harper think the Bulls would win, but he doesn’t even think it would be close. Harper tweeted back in 2015 that his Bulls of the 1990s would sweep the Warriors. That’s the kind of swag and mental toughness you want on your team.
Harper was also a bit of an iron man for the Bulls during that second three-peat, playing in 238 of a possible 246 games. Surely Harper, who had previously suffered a torn ACL, must have had a number of aches, pains, nicks and bruises, but it did not stop him from contributing every night on a championship dynasty. And for that, he deserves a spot on the countdown.