Taj Gibson carries far fewer accolades than the other Bulls starters, but he’s played a major role in helping the Bulls off to a 2-0 start to the season.

Gibson is used to being overlooked. He was the last player named to the starting rotation, earning the spot by shooting a torrid 64 percent in the preseason. He’s continued his hot shooting into the regular season, averaging 15 points and a team-leading nine rebounds per game.

He’s somewhat surprisingly developed into a clutch option, saving the Bulls with two key layups with the shot clock winding down as the Boston Celtics made a late-game run in the team’s season opener. In the team’s second game, Gibson helped build up such a huge lead that none of the starters played over 25 minutes.

The Bulls’ ball-dominant trio of Jimmy Butler, Dwayne Wade and Rajon Rondo have all developed good chemistry running the pick-and-roll with Gibson. Where most big men bail on setting a hard screen to look for the ball, Gibson sets old-school picks and has developed into a devastating finisher on the roll, where he ranks in the 83rd percentile.

Gibson has really grown his jump shot too from when he first entered the league. He’s become a knock-down shooter from both elbows. That jumper sets up his drives nicely, as he showed on Saturday.



His defensive effort remains outstanding and oftentimes overlooked. Take a look at a routine play from Saturday’s game as pointed out on Twitter by my colleague Will Gottlieb. Gibson guarded Jeff Teague (one of the fastest guards in the league), Al Jefferson (one of the last true back-to-the-basket big men) and Paul George with multiple efforts on one play, then raced back on the other end for a thunderous dunk.



Many players get the reputation for being able to guard multiple positions, but Gibson is one of the only players in the league that can legitimately guard an array of talented players 1-through-5.

Gibson has been asked to play more and more backup center, and he hasn’t backed down from the challenge. He’s undersized at 6-foot-9 and has taken a beating on his body throughout his career, but it’s not in his nature to complain. He’s done an admirable job of holding down the fort against Al Horford and Jefferson and is masking the fact that the Bulls do not have great depth at the center position behind Lopez and the still-raw Cristiano Felicio.

His attitude might be his best asset. While everyone else in the city was taking sides in the Tom Thibodeau vs. management feud, Gibson is one of the only people who has been able to stick up for Hoiberg while still speaking fondly of the lessons he learned from Thibodeau.

It must feel strange for Gibson. He’s the last remaining player from that terrific Bulls team that made the Eastern Conference Finals in 2011. His teammates probably don’t even know about the iconic dunk he had over Dwyane Wade, which remains one of my favorite Bulls dunks of all time.



At 31, Gibson is in the final year of a team-friendly deal he signed back in summer 2013. The salary cap is set to rise again, and he will finally earn a mega multiyear contract if he keeps this up.

The Bulls probably won’t be the ones to sign him to that deal, and he might end his career in Chicago as the most underrated Bull of all time. This is the last chance to enjoy Gibson, so fans should savor it. We will all miss him when he’s gone.