After 14 years in the NBA, Dwyane Wade has been on lots of long road trips and traveled many miles, spreading the gospel of basketball. But until recently, Wade had never embarked on the kind of trip the Chicago Bulls have made routine during the past two-plus decades: the annual "circus trip," so named because the circus comes to the United Center for two weeks each November.

Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg noted before this year's long voyage began that it would be the last go-round -- the United Center didn't renew the circus for 2017 -- and Wade made sure to enjoy the moment.

"Everyone has this longer road trip in the NBA," Wade said before the trip's first game later that night against the Portland Trail Blazers. "The Bulls have a cool name in the 'circus trip.' The Heat didn’t have one. San Antonio got a cool name, the 'rodeo trip.' The Clippers have the 'Grammy trip.' We didn’t have one in Miami. It’s the same thing. It’s good. It’s a time you get out here and you’re playing the best talent in the NBA in the Western Conference."

Here are a collection of stories from the 12-day road trip, which started Nov. 14 when the Bulls flew to Portland and concluded in Philadelphia on Nov. 25 against the 76ers.

Nov. 15, 11:23 a.m.: Moda Center (Portland, Oregon)

"You're not the lead singer," Bulls All-Star swingman Jimmy Butler tells injured guard Michael Carter-Williams.

Carter-Williams, who won't play on the trip because of a bone bruise in his left knee and a left wrist injury, wants Butler to tell the assembled media about their newly-formed band. Butler is having none of it.

"I'm the lead backup dancer," Butler says. "And the lead singer."

When asked who else is in the band, Carter-Williams' reply is simple.

"It's just me and Jimmy," he says.

A few seats away, Wade explains how he has fit in with his teammates so quickly. In what will become a common theme on this trip, the future Hall of Famer opens up about how he has forged a bond with his teammates in just a few months.

"I just know how to form chemistry with guys," Wade says. "First of all, you find the guys who are similar personalities and then you go up from there. I pretty much got that down pat. I know if I give gifts to people, that helps right away. I came in gifting right away. I gave guys a lot of stuff. They all got custom slides I gave them. Everyone got underwear from my line. Everyone got wine, Wade wine. Just a lot of different stuff you try to do for guys and try to make them look at you, especially me coming here, as just one of the guys.

"There’s other things we got planned that we’re going to do to continue to build that bond as we're out on this road trip. I look forward to continuing to get to know my teammates away from the court and also on the court."

Nov. 15, 10:06 p.m.: Moda Center (Portland, Oregon)

Jerian Grant has just played the best game of his short Bulls career. Stepping in for an injured Rajon Rondo, Grant, who was inactive for the Bulls' first three games of the season, scores 18 points and helps push his teammates to a win in a building that has given many of them nightmares over the years. After it's over, Butler and Wade both praise and chide the 24-year-old guard. He has decided to wear an old Bulls replica shooting shirt on his way out of the building. The veterans tease him like varsity players would kid with a junior varsity player. But both men understand Chicago would not have been able to win on this night without Grant. Butler says he saw this type of performance coming from the second-year guard.

"Yeah, I did," Butler says. "The kid is constantly in the gym. He's always asking the right questions and he wants to do well. I'm excited for him, I'm happy for him. I just wish he would have went to Marquette instead of Notre Dame."

Nov. 16, 11:24 a.m.: Beauchamp Recreation & Wellness Center on the campus of the University of Portland

Eric Buck steps off the Bulls' team bus with a sprinkled doughnut in his mouth and a smile on his face. Buck, the Bulls' director of team security, is in charge of keeping players and coaches safe in arenas and facilities all over the league. But on this day, his first responsibility is ensuring that two pink boxes of Portland's famous Voodoo Doughnuts make their way into the new facility.

After the Bulls' workout, a small crowd of students gathers around the entrance to the gym. The starstruck group, camera phones at the ready, can't believe Wade and Butler are on campus. Down the hall of the facility, veteran leader Taj Gibson discusses how this year's group has bought into what second-year coach Hoiberg is teaching more than it did a season ago.

"I think it was a little tougher because you had some guys who were used to the old ways with Thibs' style of defense while still trying to buy into Fred's style of defense and [assistant coach] Jim Boylan's style of defense," Gibson says. "So it was a lot of butting heads at times. But this year, I think, is a lot better. We're communicating a lot better, as far as seeing what they aren't doing the right way, and guys are communicating with the coaches, and Fred and the coaches are agreeing with guys sometimes."

Gibson, who was Hoiberg's most vocal supporter during last year's disappointing season, knows the 44-year-old went through a big learning curve coming from college to the pros, but he remains confident Hoiberg can lead the Bulls back to prominence.

"When you win games and it shows on film that what he's telling you to do actually works, you can't really question it," Gibson says. "So right now, we can't question it. Right now, whatever he's telling us to do, it works. But it's good having D-Wade there to have his opinion. He knows what it takes, and Fred and everybody is really going hand-in-hand."

The Bulls head for Utah and a private showing of "Bleed For This" set up by Wade. The camaraderie of this group compared to last season is palpable throughout the organization.

Nov. 17, 11:18 p.m.: Vivint Smart Home Arena (Salt Lake City, Utah)

For the first time in 20 years, the Bulls have won the first two games on their circus trip, and Chicago GM Gar Forman walks around outside the visitors locker room with the countenance of a happy man. He gives hugs and handshakes to some of Butler's friends and family before Hoiberg addresses the media. One of the main messages the young coach gets across in his comments is that it was Wade, not any coaches, who lit into his teammates about defensive lapses during a timeout.

In the locker room a few minutes later, Wade acknowledges that he talked to Hoiberg over the summer about the type of voice he wanted to use with his new team.

"I kind of asked him what he was comfortable with and he kind of told me -- he wanted to use what I had as well," Wade says. "Yes, he's Coach. Yes, he's been in the NBA, but also my experiences are something that he hasn't had with the Finals, etc. That's the one thing good about certain players in this league: when coaches allow them to use their knowledge of the game. In certain moments it's great to go to Fred in the last couple minutes and say, 'Hey, let's run this and let's do this. Let's get to this package,' and he's open to it.

"It's not, 'It's got to be my way or the highway.' We're growing together. He's a young coach and we're a young team and we're going to grow through this season together. It's going to be highs, it's going to be lows, but at the end of the day it's only us. We're only in here together. We're going to figure it out."

It's only two games into a long trip, but Wade likes what he sees.

"It's a six-game road trip so it's a great win for us," Wade says. "Our job is to come out and see how we can win the next one, but from the standpoint of how we played with the different styles of teams, to be able to figure out a way to win both games is the step that we're trying to take to be a good team in this league.

"We've gotten better because we've had days in between to prepare and get better. So this team responds when we have those opportunities. Just good wins, man. Just guys coming out and playing pure basketball. No individual nothing. Just trying to find ways to win. The winning feels good. And it's good to be around that. It's good to be around no one really caring individually about what they do. No one has their head down if we win and they play bad. Everyone is just excited to be on a winning ballclub."

A large picture of former USC Trojan Taj Gibson dunking on Dwyane Wade hangs at the Trojans' practice facility inside the Galen Center. Nick Friedell

Nov. 19, 11:26 a.m.: Galen Center (Los Angeles, California)

Almost seven years ago to the day, a then-rookie Gibson hoped against hope that his new team, the Bulls, would not practice where his old team, the USC Trojans, used to put in work. The practice facility the Trojans used was dotted with large photo banners of former players, and Gibson knew he was displayed prominently.

"I was like, 'Please don’t go in the picture gym,'" Gibson said at the time. "We went in here and I was like, 'Ahhh.' As soon as we get in here, everybody was like, 'Ahhh!' Gar, everybody was like, 'Taj is running this place, huh?'"

Since the University of Oregon's women's volleyball team was using the main floor in advance of a night game with the Trojans, Gibson and his teammates were back in his old stomping grounds. Seven years later, Gibson walks around the "picture gym" with a whole new appreciation for what he has accomplished in his NBA career.

"I think about a lot of good memories," Gibson says. "A lot of the good memories, a lot of the ups and downs. Just learning the process of being a pro. What it took to get here. I told some of the guys earlier, it's hard because you reminisce about the good times when everything was just flowing. You was a young kid, you was flowing. You were coming into manhood, coming into being a pro. It was one of the hardest things ever."

There are still big pictures on the walls, both from his Trojan days and his NBA career -- including one of him dunking on Wade -- but Gibson views the pictures through a different lens now.

"Real emotional because I came a long way," Gibson says of his feelings in the familiar surroundings. "I remember there was a time when all this was completely blank. That just shows you each year you're writing your own chapter. And the people of USC, the people of L.A. [have been] just seeing my work over the years."

On the opposite end of the floor, Wade is delivering a basketball tutorial. The Bulls' front office was panned all across the NBA for signing Wade and Rondo, two historically poor 3-point shooters, but Wade and Hoiberg remain outwardly confident that the new-look team can find ways to win in a league that features long-range shooting more than ever.

"We have to play the way our roster is built to play," Wade says. "We can't go out and play the way our roster's not built to play. That's a recipe for disaster if we try to play that way, so we got to win ugly games like we did in Utah. Some nights the ball's going to go in the basket, we're going to score 118 points, but that's the way this team was put together and constructed. That's what I see. I don't know why we're in a league [that feels] you can't win if you don't have X-Y-Z. Right now we're figuring out ways to win. Some nights it's going to be hard for us, though. Some nights the ball ain't going to go in. And everybody's going to say, 'See, I was right!' But for the majority of the season, our way will win us more ballgames than we'll lose."

Wade cites the current NBA champions to prove his point.

"If you look at Cleveland, you wouldn't say Cleveland has 3-point shooters. You wouldn't necessarily say, 'Oh, they're a 3-point threat like that.' But they make 10 3s a game. You know what I mean? J.R. [Smith] is their best 3-point shooter, right? You'd say he shoots 3s, but you wouldn't necessarily say he would win a 3-point contest. But they get their shots; they've got guys that can knock shots down. They make 10 3-pointers a game, and they're champions.

"So it doesn't necessarily matter what style you're playing. It's just you've got to be good at your game. You've got to be better than the other team at your game than they is at theirs."

Wade knows that fans are hooked by the intoxicating style of teams like the Golden State Warriors, but he is wise enough to know the league will catch up to that style in time.

"It's new, it's cool," Wade says. "You've got Steph Curry who makes 13 3-pointers [in a game]. In today's game, as we stand here today, that's amazing. But in 10 years that's going to be probably the norm. It's like a guy making 13 midrange jump shots because that's where the game was. They've changed the game from how it's been played. So it's exciting, it's interesting, it's fun to talk about. It's cool, I understand that, but that doesn't mean that you can't win."

In the short term, Wade and the Bulls have to gear themselves up for their Los Angeles back-to-back that starts against the hottest team in the league, the Clippers, in a few hours. Like so many of his teammates, the 34-year-old is excited to play on the Staples Center stage.

"The bright lights, the stars that come around. New York, L.A. -- there's nothing like it," Wade says. "You know that everyone's going to be watching. You know the excitement is going to be there from the standpoint of this is what you play for. Especially these two teams right now are playing good basketball, so it's going to be live in there. You just never know who's going to be sitting there watching you play."

Nov. 19, 5:55 p.m.: Staples Center (Los Angeles, California)

Clippers coach Doc Rivers couldn't believe it, either. When Wade left the Miami Heat after 13 seasons and decided to sign with the Bulls, Rivers felt like a lot of fans did.

"Surprised?" Rivers says. "I was shocked. I didn't think that would ever happen. I thought he was going to end his career as a Heat guy. That's what he was his whole life. I guess if he was going to leave, in some ways the only place for him was Chicago, so it was a good fit for him."

The proud Marquette alum spends most of his pregame chat with reporters bragging on fellow Marquette alums Wade and Butler. As players wait to get their warm-ups in on the Staples Center floor -- a delay caused because arena workers had to switch the floor after a Los Angeles Kings hockey game earlier in the day -- Rivers makes an interesting comparison between Wade and a fellow future Hall of Famer.

"In a crazy way he's kind of turned into Paul Pierce," Rivers says. "You know what I mean? Paul was always a great athlete -- but never really used it unless he had to. He played on fundamentals and his footwork and his timing and his brain. Dwyane came in the league and he just beat you with raw athleticism. You couldn't do a lot about it. He looked at you and said, 'I'm a better athlete.' Now he looks at you and says, 'You may be a better athlete, but I'm smarter, my footwork's better, my fundamentals are better. I'm still not a bad athlete.'

"It's amazing how smart he is. And he's beating people with his brain now. It's not something you see very often, I can tell you that, and it's been pretty impressive to watch."

Nov. 19, 10:34 p.m.: Staples Center (Los Angeles, California)

The mood in the visiting locker room is surprisingly upbeat given that the Bulls blew a 19-point first-half lead and lost a winnable game against one of the league's elite teams. The young group has several questionable calls go against it late in the contest -- and watches Hoiberg get tossed for the first time in his career late in the fourth quarter -- but the players remain upbeat.

"I'll take that game any night, on the road or at home," Wade says.

"We're going to make teams play. They had to dig deep into their bags tonight to pull this one out at home, and that's what we want to do. If a team beats us, we want them to walk away scarred up and feeling like they got away with one. And that's what they should feel like today."

Nov. 20, 9:27 p.m.: Staples Center (Los Angeles, California)

Bobby Portis slides an Ezekiel Elliot jersey over his head with a grin on his face. His beloved Dallas Cowboys knocked off the Baltimore Ravens earlier in the day and he is repping his favorite team with pride, despite some ribbing from nearby teammates.

"We're 9-1!," Portis says, surrounded by a happy group of players that has just knocked off the Los Angeles Lakers.

Butler was the star all night, scoring 40 points, but Gibson lights up when asked about the Bulls' bench needing a game like this.

"Especially Niko," Gibson says. "Especially Niko."

After being outscored 33-15 by the Clippers' bench and being outplayed down the stretch the night before, Portis and third-year big man Niko Mirotic responded with a better effort that helped Chicago seal the win. Gibson is hopeful it's the kind of performance that will help the bench regain its collective confidence.

"It was great for them," Gibson says. "I told them before the game, 'Get your shots,' because we're going to need you tonight. We've got a lot of bodies down. It's time to step up. There's no 'you're a rookie' anymore. It's about being a man and being ready. This is all going to make you better towards the end of the year.

"I told a lot of guys, keep your head up. It was great, especially to see Niko be aggressive on the offensive side and the defensive side. He doesn't get a lot of credit, but he rebounded the ball. Plus, he started out playing the 3, running around chasing Nick Young and those other guys. But it was just great to have Bobby and those guys understand the importance of just playing lights-out and playing free."

Nov. 22, 6:02 p.m.: Pepsi Center (Denver, Colorado)

Hoiberg pounces on a question about Bulls center Robin Lopez like a shark catching fresh meat in the water.

"He doesn't get mentioned and he should," Hoiberg says. "With all the little things that he does for this team, I think he's got five double-doubles in the last six games. He goes out and sets the tone for us with the physicality, he and Taj, that's them. You look at our rebound numbers this year -- the physicality that we play with -- and that's our front-line guys.

"So little things, setting screens -- we're a much better screening team this year. Rolling to the rim, getting guys like Jimmy open. I know Jimmy tells [Lopez] all the time how much he appreciates the little things that he does for him and also for the team. Rebounding, outlets -- he's going to give you an honest effort every night on the defensive end. And I just think he's giving this team so much."

Players and coaches have repeatedly praised Lopez for both his production on the floor and demeanor off of it. As hard as it was for some fans to see Derrick Rose get traded to the Knicks last summer, the Bulls' front office believes the organization is in a better place after parting ways with Rose and bringing in Lopez.

"You're not going to see a guy get on SportsCenter by setting a screen," Hoiberg says. "And that's what Robin does -- he's going to guard, he's going to protect the rim, he rebounds. He's helping our offensive rebounding in a huge way from a year ago. I think we're second in that category right now and I think he was third in the league overall a year ago. It's so many little things, but it certainly doesn't go unappreciated by his coaches and his teammates."

Nov. 22, 10:14 p.m.: Pepsi Center (Denver, Colorado)

For the second time in three games, the Bulls have several calls go against them late in a tough loss, this time to the Denver Nuggets. The Bulls' bench, which played much better against the Lakers, gets outscored 61-13 by the Nuggets' reserves. Chicago allows Denver to start the second quarter on a 22-0 run. The locker room is quiet as reporters enter.

"We got to be better, man," Butler says. "When we get a lead we got to build upon that lead. We can't get comfortable, because when you get comfortable what happened, happens."

Butler is confident his team will learn from its latest setback and is emboldened by the resolve the group has shown. As he speaks, Wade watches closely from a nearby locker like an older brother. He wants to make sure his frustrated young teammate doesn't say something he might regret later about the way the game -- and the officiating -- played out down the stretch.

"It happens," Butler says of the tough outcome. "It happens in this league, but it's a long season. But with these guys, with these coaches -- I'm going to war with these guys every single night."

The Bulls practice on Thanksgiving Day at the Temple University campus. Nick Friedell

Nov. 24, 1:03 p.m.: The Liacouras Center on the campus of Temple University (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)

Instead of flying back to Chicago for Thanksgiving at the end of a long road trip as the Bulls did a season ago, Hoiberg has decided to keep his team on the road -- and in the gym -- on this Thanksgiving day.

"There is some normalcy to it," Hoiberg says. "Last year we were in a similar situation coming off the 'circus trip.' We ended up going home, basically there for a day, and then went into Indiana, got there late, and didn't play well. So we wanted to keep our guys on the road."

The Bulls' players and staff are a little weary at the end of the long trip, but Hoiberg remains upbeat by what he has seen. Still, he wishes he and his team could be closer to family during the holiday season.

"It's tough traveling across two time zones," Hoiberg says. "I remember the first game playing East after you've been West for as long as we were, it's a tough game. So I think it was beneficial for us to get into the gym. Get these guys going, get their legs moving, get a sweat, and they responded with a really, really good effort. It was a good, solid practice. We did a lot of mental stuff, but we did do some things to get their legs going and get a sweat going.

"But this is two years in a row now we've been on the road for Thanksgiving and Christmas. It's tough when you've got a family. You know they're all home and having a great time without you. But it's part of the life that we live. It's an honor to play on Christmas; it would be nice to be home on one of those holidays where you can at least have Thanksgiving at home.

"If not Thanksgiving you have Christmas, [but this is] our second road game in a row on Christmas. We're grateful, obviously, to be in this position. It's an opportunity for us to get together this afternoon and have a Thanksgiving meal, and then hopefully come out and end the trip on a positive [Friday] night."

Butler, who is averaging more than 35 minutes a game, sits out the practice to rest. After practice he watches a shooting contest unfold centering around Shaun Hickombottom, the Bulls' senior manager of player development and team services. Butler smiles wide after Hickombottom clanks a couple jumpers. After a season full of locker room angst a year ago, Butler has settled into his role as team leader -- alongside Wade -- nicely.

"I like it," Butler says of being away on Thanksgiving. "This is a family away from the family. I think it feels that way for me and I can tell you it feels like that for everybody else, so we're thankful that we get to be around so many good people on this holiday. Yeah, we're not around our 'family, family.' But we're a close group of guys. I think everybody's grateful to be here together."

Hoiberg is understandably sick of talking about last year's disappointing outcome, but he is pleased with how this team has come together.

"They really have bought into the chemistry piece," Hoiberg says. "And it's so important with going out there and competing and having each other's back and being able to hold each other accountable, being able to talk to each other. It's been great. The thing that I've been most impressed with this group is how they bought into the whole togetherness.

"And we talked a lot about that early on, it doesn't matter who gets the credit. I told them I could care less who leads us in scoring, rebounding, assists. It's about doing it together. And again, they've bought into that in a big way and I think that's the reason we've had some early-season success. [Friday] will be our 16th game, 11th on the road. It did give us a good opportunity -- I like going on the road early. It gives the team an opportunity to get together and to bond ... it's a group that genuinely gets along. They enjoy spending time with each other, and that's very important for a team."

Nov. 25, 11:19 a.m.: The Liacouras Center on the campus of Temple University (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)

In the midst of discussing his unique Thanksgiving dinner, which included a helicopter ride with his wife, actress Gabrielle Union, to Carmelo Anthony's New York home, and a seat at the table next to Rose, Wade echoes Hoiberg's sentiments from the day before. He believes the bond the Bulls have formed during this trip will serve them well all season.

"I just think we came together more as a team off the court," Wade says. "I think our bond is a little stronger than it was before we came on this trip. We've been able to do some things together as a team, some fun things, some cool things together. We've spent a lot of time together. I think more so than anything our bond off the court has gotten stronger, which is showing with the way we're playing on the court. And now we just want to continue it. We want to continue to grow on the court as a team. We got a lot of areas that we can grow in and I think we all know that and see that. But I think our togetherness off the court is helping us."

Hoiberg is confident his team will play well against the Sixers later that night, praising the way the Bulls prepared during the final shootaround of the trip. Gibson highlights the perseverance the team has shown during the two-week journey compared with last season.

"We were banged up, no different from now, but mentally at the first go-around we weren't there after a couple losses, especially last year after a couple losses," Gibson says. "Morale was down, we couldn't really find ourselves. But this group is real upbeat and we're really locked in. I don't want to shoot myself in the foot right away because we've got a tough one tonight, but guys understand the urgency and we believe we can win each and every night."

Gibson, who has served as the moral compass of the Bulls for years, isn't shocked by what he has seen during the first month of the season.

"I can't really be surprised because we got a great group of guys," Gibson says. "Everybody knows how to communicate and knows how to say the right things. But we got a huge respect level for one another. And we all want to win. We have that chemistry to the point where -- we had it years ago. Where guys don't care [about credit]. Guys are willing to run through walls as long as we get the job done. And I see that early in this group."

Nov. 25, 6:21 p.m.: Wells Fargo Center (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)

For the second time on this trip, the Bulls are delayed in getting to warm-ups because of a hockey game. This time it's because of a Philadelphia Flyers matinee earlier in the day, and the delay is longer than it had been in Los Angeles. With just over an hour until their game against the Sixers is set to tip off, Bulls players are nervously waiting in their locker room. Kanye West's "Through the Wire" blares on the portable stereo that has become a fixture in Chicago's locker room.

"I don't even know what to do with myself," Lopez says to Wade, as they wait for the green light to take the floor.

Dwyane Wade and Jimmy Butler prepare in the tunnel before the Bulls' game in Philadelphia. Nick Friedell

A few minutes later, Wade and Butler walk over mats on the wet concrete to get to the court and go through their normal routine. They want to finish this trip in style.

"The last game of the road trip is always a tough one for your group," Hoiberg says. "But if we can go out there and get the tone set, get the tempo where we want it, hopefully we'll be in good shape."

Nov. 25, 10:29 p.m.: Wells Fargo Center (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)

Before the trip began, Wade said his goal on any long road trip was to come back with a .500 record.

"50 [percent]," Wade said before the first game in Portland. "Always successful when you can break 50 [percent]. That's always successful. You go 4-2, you good. You go 5-1, ohh! So I always go with that mindset, hey you go on a six-game road trip, you go 3-3 -- it's a solid road trip for you. You go anything over that, it's love."

After breezing past the Sixers in an easy win on the final night of the trip, the Bulls are feeling the love. Longtime equipment manager John Ligmanowski dutifully collects the black-sleeved jerseys the Bulls wore for the first time all season as players and staff members gather their belongings before one last flight. Kristen Deahl and Beth Esler, the Bulls' public relations coordinators on the trip, walk around the locker room one last time, making sure everything is in order.

Everybody is ready to go home as family and friends wait outside the locker room to congratulate the Bulls on a successful 4-2 "circus trip" finale.

"We had a great opportunity to win every game," Wade says. "That's what you want. We're still a team that's building so a couple of those games, with more experience, we could have pulled out -- at least one of them. But we played very well.

"And when you go on a road trip, a six-game road trip, we come back .500 -- we've had a successful one. You come back 4-2 you've had a very successful one. We finished it off right tonight. A team that we're supposed to take care of business with their best player [Joel Embiid] out, and last game of the trip, we did that so I'm proud of this team."