Coby White discovers his leadership role with the Bulls: ‘I just keep being myself'

New York Times

16-04-2025

CHICAGO — As Coby White walked off the court after his pregame warmup before the Bulls played the Mavericks on March 29, he stopped to sign autographs for some young fans with their arms outstretched near the Bulls' tunnel. A girl stuck her sneaker — a red-and-white Jordan 1 — through the guardrail. Without hesitation, White scribbled on the toe of her shoe.
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It was a little gesture, but it was symbolic in a way; though he's not 'a superstar' by typical NBA standards, White is a star in Chicago. He doesn't have any big endorsement deals, and while he's a solid player, there's no national buzz around him. White doesn't have the contract of a star player, and we still don't know what the future is for this Bulls team, but he embodies the hard-hat, blue-collar work ethic Chicagoans pride themselves on.
Since the departures of Alex Caruso, DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine, White, 25, has grown into a leadership role. In his sixth year with the Bulls, he is the longest-tenured player on the team.
'DeMar was the guy that gave the group great belief that we could win. And I think Coby's done the same thing,' Bulls coach Billy Donovan said.
White saw the changes in the team as an opportunity to take his game to another level.
'A lot of opportunity opened up, just to be honest when (LaVine) left, just because of the type of player he was, so there was a lot of responsibility on all of us to take our game to another level,' White told Chicago's 670 The Score. 'I think you've seen it, not only with me but with everybody else on the team. I wouldn't say it's all been on me. I think a lot of us have all stepped up in a new role, and I think we just needed to take advantage of it, each and every one of us individually.'
White's play has been a key contributor to the Bulls becoming a dangerous team to close out the regular season, making them a group opponents can't mark as an easy out on the schedule.
In a win over Orlando on March 6, White had a career-high 44-point game with five rebounds and two steals. He also broke the Bulls' single-season 3-point record (216), a record he already held. He's the only player in Bulls history to have consecutive seasons with 200-plus 3s, and the sixth Bulls guard to record 1,500 career rebounds, joining Jerry Sloan, Michael Jordan, Kirk Hinrich and Reggie Theus.
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White also became just the second Bulls player to receive back-to-back player of the week nods; the first was another guard from North Carolina, Michael Jordan. Named Eastern Conference Player of the Month for March, White averaged 27.7 points and 3.7 assists in 15 games. Five other Bulls players have won the award since the 1979-80 season: Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Derrick Rose, Jimmy Butler and DeRozan.
Despite the Bulls not being a title contender, White has shown signs of growth as a ball-handler and an around-the-rim scorer. With 20-plus points in 18 of the Bulls' last 22 games, White is a good example of patience persevering in an era in which teams sometimes give up early on young players.
Coby White was ELITE in March:
27.7 points
4.7 rebounds
3.7 assists
50% FG
38% from three
Coby is the first Bull to be @Kia Eastern Conference POTM since DeMar in 2022. pic.twitter.com/6SmsgCK825
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) April 1, 2025
The only Bulls player to eclipse 6,000 career points, 1,500 career boards and 1,500 career assists in the first 218 games with the team, White is averaging a career-high 20.7 points, 4.5 assists and 3.6 rebounds.
'I just keep being myself. … Keep on getting lost in the game. Stay in the moment. Figure out other ways to impact the game, get to the free throw line, whatever it may be,' White told The Athletic.
White credits learning under DeRozan and LaVine for maintaining a calm demeanor and trusting himself in games even when his shots aren't falling.
'You're not going to hit shots every single night, but you still got to find ways to impact the game,' White said. 'The great players, they do little stuff like get to the line when their shots are not falling, or try to get easy ones, try to get to their spots, and stuff like that. Seeing DeRozan and LaVine) just flipping that mindset when it came to the fourth quarter, the one thing with them is they never stop shooting. They always continue to stay aggressive.'
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On Wednesday, the Bulls return to the Eastern Conference Play-In Tournament for the third straight season with hopes of making the playoffs. They will take on Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro and the Miami Heat in Chicago. In their two previous Play-In appearances, the Bulls fell to the Heat, losing 102-91 in 2023 and 112-91 in 2024.
'He's a dynamic guard who can obviously hurt you from 3 and getting downhill,' Herro said. 'So just trying to balance picking up and pressuring him, making things tough on him. Just really not trying to let him keep catching rhythm. He's a rhythm player, so once he sees one or two, he can get hot.'
After the trades of Caruso, DeRozan, and LaVine, Chicago was expected by many to fold in favor of draft position. Instead, a re-energized Nikola Vučević, White and a young Bulls team is looking to take down the experienced Heat in the hunt for their first playoff appearance since 2022.
On Wednesday night, White will have another opportunity to step up and show Chicago this is his team.
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(Photo of Coby White: Kyle Ross / Imagn Images)