The first few games of the 2020-21 NBA season has all the makings of a breakout campaign for Chicago Bulls star guard Zach LaVine. It's too early to tell if he remains consistent or if his individual performance will eventually trickle on over to his team's win-loss record. But so far, many are impressed by the Bulls' showing. LaVine believes that this has a lot to do with the team learning how to play with one another.
The Bulls hold a 6-8 record with victories over playoff teams like the Dallas Mavericks and the Portland Trail Blazers. As for LaVine, he's averaging a career-high 27.4 points per game. This includes seven 30-point games (second in the league behind Damian Lillard's eight.) and a 45-point outburst. Gone are the days when he was considered a mere athletic beast who can only dunk.
“We got a lot of firepower,” LaVine said, per KC Johnson of NBC Sports. “I think we’re all starting to learn to move the ball a little bit. I think I’ve done a really good job this year picking my spots, understanding when to shoot and when to pass. I think other guys have started to do that as well. So it’s been fun.”
Veteran forward Thaddeus Young, in his second season with the Bulls, has seen LaVine's development over the last two seasons. Young knows that LaVine is an explosive offensive gunner. But in order to win, he has to get his teammates involved.
“Zach knows now that he's gonna do his numbers. He's gonna get what he needs to get for us throughout the course of a game because he's gonna have the ball in his hands a lot,” Thad Young said. “The question is: Can he get us involved and active into the game to help him out? And he's been doing a really good job.”
The Bulls are currently on a two-game winning streak. They have a chance to extend it to three games for the first time this season against the Charlotte Hornets on Friday.
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