CHICAGO – While their finish left something to be desired, it was a season in which the Bulls returned to the forefront of “Windy City” sports once again.
Their 46-36 record put them back in the playoffs for the first time in five seasons as they start the first round against the defending NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday at Fiserv Forum.
With the play of All-Stars DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine along with veterans Nikola Vucevic and the emergence of Chicago-native Ayo Dosunmu, the team was a must-see for fans in Chicago and even on the road.
Hence the team’s attendance was at the top in the NBA all around during the 2021-2022 season.
With the regular season concluded, the Bulls averaged 20,881 fans per game over 41 contests at the United Center this season, which was the highest in the NBA. The team sold 99.8 percent of their seats for home games, which was seventh in the league behind six other teams that had all sellouts or were even slightly overcapacity.
This marks the first time the team has been tops in home attendance since the 2017-2018 season, with the year before representing the last time the team led the NBA in the percentage of attendance (103.6 percent, 2016-2017).
As far as road games go, the Bulls also had the highest number of fans as well, with 18,198 entering stadiums when they entered as opponents. That was 19 fans more than the Lakers averaged on the road as they came in second at 18,179.
It’s the first time the Bulls have led the NBA in road attendance since their last championship season of 1997-1998, which was the final one of the Michael Jordan-led dynasty.
As far as percentages go, the Bulls’ road average was third in the NBA at 96.3, which was just behind the Warriors (96.5) and the Lakers (96.9).