The path to the playoffs for the Chicago Bulls will run through Coby White.
This has been a breakout season for White, who catapulted into the Most Improved Player conversation while taking the reins of the Bulls offense in the absence of star guard Zach LaVine. But it’s one thing to have a breakout regular season. Continuing that growth in the postseason is a different task.
The challenge this week is simple: Live up to his new role as the team’s floor leader and No. 2 scoring option in a pair of single-elimination games with a playoff berth on the line.
But White doesn’t want to allow that pressure to weigh him down in the play-in tournament, beginning Wednesday at the United Center against the Atlanta Hawks (8:30 p.m., ESPN).
“I don’t want it to feel different,” he said. “For me, every game this year was important. This is no different.”
White’s transformation over the last two years was fueled by his first NBA postseason experience. The Bulls didn’t qualify for the playoffs in his first two seasons, so when they earned a first-round matchup against the Milwaukee Bucks in 2022, he was beyond eager to experience a playoff environment — and, he hoped, contribute to winning.
Things didn’t go as planned. The Bulls crashed out of that best-of-seven series in five games. White struggled to make shots and compete on defense. He left exit interviews mired in frustration that propelled him to overhaul his offseason training regimen.
In last year’s play-in tournament, White had nine points and five assists in an opening victory against the Toronto Raptors, then totaled 14 points — including 4-of-6 3-point shooting — four assists and five rebounds in a loss to the Miami Heat.
“I had a different feeling going into it last year,” White told the Tribune. “I just played with confidence and kind of let everything happen.”
But this year, expectations have shifted. White won’t be coming off the bench to provide a lift with the second unit. He’ll be the one setting the tone — and often absorbing the opponent’s defensive game plan.
Coach Billy Donovan knows teams can — and will — find ways to take the ball out of White’s hands. The test for White is what happens after that pressure is applied.
“From a game plan standpoint, you can try to eliminate or wipe somebody out,” Donovan said. “If teams do try to do that, it’s about how does he still maintain a level of effectiveness.”
The Bulls especially need White to be efficient behind the arc in a potential shootout against the Hawks. Facing a team that took an average of 37.7 3-pointers this season, seventh in the league, could create an offensive imbalance for the Bulls, who attempted only 32.1 per game to rank 26th.
But even more than 3-point shooting, Donovan emphasized one key trait White must display in the postseason: decisiveness.
Throughout this season, White has showed an improved ability to impose himself upon a game rather than deferring to teammates or opponents. That will be a key again this week. With or without the ball in his hands, White has to be a lead — if not the lead — decision maker for the Bulls.
“I think he’s ready for it,” Donovan said. “But I also think, quite honestly, that this has been a lot on him this year. I don’t think that there was anything that he could have done to prepare for this. You have to go through it, and I think he knows that stamina and the endurance is probably one of the highest priorities for him.”
For White, it’s hard to compare last year’s play-in tournament to this week’s, mostly because of the upheaval on the roster after LaVine’s season-ending foot surgery.
“The whole team dynamic is totally different,” he said.
But despite that tumult, White feels anchored by his relationship with DeMar DeRozan, who remains the Bulls’ primary scoring option.
White describes their dynamic as balanced. Neither holds grudges or takes criticism personally. They can lay into one another after a turnover, then celebrate a good play on the next drive. As his voice continues to grow as a team leader, White cherishes the way DeRozan pushes him on the court.
DeRozan, for his part, doesn’t want to place any extra pressure on White as the Bulls enter the play-in tournament.
“You don’t put that energy out there,” DeRozan said. “You just be ready and prepared. It’s just like every day. Don’t get caught up in all the rah-rah from the outside. Just stay locked in.”
