An Open Letter To Coby White and Patrick Williams:
Fellas, so, a few weeks ago — Nov. 21 to be exact — right after I’d written a column on Zach LaVine, during the saga of him openly conceding that he’d be cool with your organization distancing himself from them, I appeared on the Holmes and Bernstein Show on 670 The Score and made a few theoretical comments about the state of the team. Two specifically about the both of you.
“I’ll ask both of you,” I said to the show hosts, “is Coby White playing anything like a starting point guard of a NBA playoff team?”
“No,” was the response. Then followed that up with, “And add that to the way Patrick Williams is playing, the Bulls have basically been playing three against five all season.”
Yeah. So here we be. On the flip side of theory. Where I’m not sure if you all heard and personalized what I said, felt dissed, got pissed and made it y’alls missions to outwardly make me look like Skip Bayless before either of you saw me in the streets and dealt with what I said another way? Or did that weird-ass universal astounding power called coincidence occur and right after making those comments it just so happened at that exact moment you both flipped your own scripts, transformed, elevated and turned the Bulls into a legit five-man NBA squad that the league is now paying attention to? And both either kinda, sorta happened when LaVine exited the lineup.
Now as someone who really doesn’t believe in non-directly related coincidences or random acts of symmetry, my ignorance is thinking, taking everything in consideration of what happened since then, this might be the time for “Thanks, Bro.” From you all to me. Yeah. Not that I’m going to take fuel credit for being what fueled you two to go from Kia to Tesla, but putting you all on-blast mighta been the best thing that happened for you. And not saying I’m the only one to thank because it seemed like the whole city was low-key doing the same, I’m just saying I at least used one of the city’s biggest platforms to help you both out.
I get it, seeing it from that POV is borderline like Kanye taking credit for Taylor Swift. But what else is a brotha to do? How else is an overtly insecure, pseudo-legendary columnist without a podcast supposed to feel?
C-Dub, “Sub-0” no more, uh? Just when it was becoming universal belief that you were about to be Cam Payne 2.0 while in a Bulls uniform, you went from potential to promise in a little over three weeks, possibly solving the Bulls’ point-guard problem.
Outplaying Dame Lillard in two games and in the six games before this second two-game Miami series having a 38.2 PRA line, including 26.1 PPG 6.0 RPG 6.0 APG 60% FG 88% FT and 53% 3PT on 58 threes taken. Forcing the Bulls to recently put “All-Star caliber level” on their X account postings about you. Too bad you missed your contract extension year by one year. Damn, dude.
And P-Will. What? Where’d the sense of urgency, competitiveness and contract-extension effort that everyone’s been waiting on all of a sudden come from? In a 10-game span, double-digit scoring in eight of them, including two 20-point games; five games in double figure field-goal attempts, six games shooting over 50% and rebound increases from 4.2 RPG to 5.3 RPG. Not to mention the amplify in defensive engagement; having a few Taj Gibson-under-Thibs-while-in-a-Bulls-uniform moments. Out there looking like you finally care. Living up to that “Pick4” name fans sarcastically scream out during the games when coach Billy Donovan takes you out. And your rookie-scale contract ends when, again? My dude.
So the question now is eminent: Is this all just a small sample or a small sample of what’s about to be the new norms? Your trend or your ascend? Though not an apology or a mea culpa on my end, just letting you both know that I see you now. White, your maturation; Williams, your presence. Recognized. Flowers given. Flowers earned.
Flowers, remember, wilt.
I hate to admit this: I was wrong. Not wrong about what you both were doing and how you were playing, but of what you both had the ability to do and what was in both of you to do. Two different things. I ain’t think either was there. I wrongly assessed both. For now. No hard feelings, right? It’s all good — just a little awkward.
