2023-10-02 10:06:38
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USA TODAY
For the second time in three years, Belmont will serve as host to an NBA team when the Chicago Bulls begin training camp.
The team will fly to Nashville on Tuesday for their first practice at Belmont’s Crockett Center.
The decision to have training camp at Belmont came after Bulls players, management and staff heard good things from the New Orleans Pelicans when they practiced at Belmont after Hurricane Ida ravaged the Louisiana coastline in August 2021.
“Adam Barnes, who used to play for us, works for the Pelicans and we ended up hosting them for a week of practice in the Crockett Center,” Belmont athletic director Scott Corley said. “I think more of these NBA teams are looking to kind of break up the monotony of their camps and are looking to take the show on the road a little bit.”
Why Chicago Bulls are practicing at Belmont in Nashville
A Bulls executive reached out during the summer to Bruins director of player development Kerron Johnson and coach Casey Alexander and asked if Belmont could accommodate them. The Bulls also contacted Vanderbilt about possibly having camp there but decided on Belmont.
“They saw pictures of our facility. I think Nashville is attractive for obvious reasons and it kind of grew from there,” Corley said. “Kerron started having conversations and we started seeing if we could host them.”
How long will Chicago Bulls practice at Belmont?
The Bulls will work out for five days at the Crockett Center, which opened in 2021. It will mark only the second time the Bulls have left Illinois for training camp. In 1985, they had camp at Beloit College in Wisconsin.
After breaking camp, the Bulls — who finished 10th in the Eastern Conference with a 40-42 record last season and failed to make the playoffs — will go directly to Milwaukee to begin the preseason in a game Oct. 8 against the Bucks. The Bulls’ regular-season opener is Oct. 25.
Will Chicago Bulls practices in Nashville be open to public?
Some of the logistics that had to be figured out included Belmont’s men’s and women’s basketball teams, which started preseason practice last week, working with the Bulls’ schedule.
“We looked at everyone’s schedules and it ended up working out,” Corley said. “The Bulls are going to come in, they’re going to practice a couple of hours a day and then the facilities will be back open for us to practice.”
Chicago’s practices will be closed to the public but Corley said he expects Belmont’s players will have the chance to meet the players and staff and even watch some of the drills.
“I’m hoping maybe I can get in there and watch them practice and meet some of the guys,” he said. “That would be really special.”
Why Chicago Bulls, Bill Donovan chose Nashville for practices
Chip Schaefer, the Bulls’ director of performance health, recently shed more light on the decision to leave Chicago for camp on Stacey King’s podcast “Give Me The Hot Sauce.”
“It probably started with Coach (Billy) Donovan, who expressed to me with the coaching staff being largely the same, the roster being largely the same, let’s do something a little bit different,” Schaefer said. “It’s just something Coach Donovan thought would be a nice way to kind of bond and bring people together for a few days.”
And why Nashville?
“I’m going to give a little bit of credit when it was decided to do something and then it became a where,” Schaefer said. “Steve Pankow, our equipment manager, said Nashville’s a city that is cosmopolitan enough and has some restaurants people can go and enjoy after practice but it’s close enough and it’s not going to be a huge trip.”
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Chicago Bulls players with Tennessee ties
Two players on the Bulls’ roster, Julian Phillips and Terry Taylor, have ties to Tennessee.
Phillips is a 6-foot-8 rookie who played at Tennessee. He averaged 8.3 points and 4.7 rebounds in his one season with the Vols (2022-23).
He was selected by the Boston Celtics in the second round (No. 35 overall) of the NBA draft, then was traded to Chicago.
Phillips played well in the NBA’s summer league and is expected to compete for playing time at wing this season for the Bulls.
Taylor played at Austin Peay, where he was the Ohio Valley Conference player of the year in 2020 and 2021. He is the Governors’ career scoring leader with 2,488 points.
The 6-5 forward from Bowling Green, Kentucky, signed a two-way contract with Chicago on Feb. 21, 2023. He played in five games for the Bulls, averaging 4.0 points and 1.6 rebounds after playing 26 games for the Indiana Pacers.
Chicago Bulls, Michael Jordan played in Nashville
This won’t be the first time the Bulls have been in Nashville. They played an exhibition game against Utah on Oct. 14, 1990, at Vanderbilt’s Memorial Gym.
A capacity crowd of 15,399 watched the Bulls claim a 101-92 win with former Commodore Will Perdue on the roster. Perdue scored four points and shared team-high rebounding honors (seven) with Scottie Pippen.
Michael Jordan led Chicago with 16 points and had six rebounds. King scored 14.
Thurl Bailey led Utah with 17 points, and Karl Malone had 13.
Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on X, former the Twitter platform, @MikeOrganWriter.
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