This year, the Chicago Bulls had their best start, 5–0, to a season since the peak Michael Jordan-Scottie Pippen era in 1996–97. Expectations were high but inconsistent, and a brutal run in February has put them out of the Play-in positions. At least one of the core players is turning back the clock with his vintage performance.

Despite the 126-110 loss to the Kings, Josh Giddey surpassed Scottie Pippen for second-most triple-doubles in franchise history with 16. The 15 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists performance was his ninth triple-double in a season, a new career-high. The 23-year-old now only trails Michael Jordan who sits at the top with 28 triple-doubles.

Interestingly, Giddey has done it faster. The Australian guard has recorded his 16 triple-doubles in 112 games. Meanwhile, His Airness has played 930 regular-season games for his record. It’s not the first time that the new Bulls guard has etched his name with the NBA icon.

Back in November, Giddey joined Jordan as only the second Bulls player to ever post back-to-back triple-doubles. It was a feat the Bulls had not seen since Jordan nearly 40 years ago. “It’s cool,” said the Aussie point guard. “I’m not going to sit here and lie about it and say it’s not cool, but as I said, I think all the individual stuff comes as a by-product of winning and being part of a very fun team to play with.”

There was even a record that Michael Jordan never achieved in the Windy City.

In December, the fifth-year NBA star led Chicago to a convincing 127-111 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers by accomplishing something even His Airness couldn’t. Giddey scored 23 points with 11 rebounds and 11 assists in 34 minutes, becoming the first Bulls player to ever record a triple-double while connecting on five three-pointers.

The Bulls could go back to the Michael Jordan era

Beginning the season on a strong note and having Josh Giddey dropping triple-double is good on paper. Because the 26-38 record is not what the MJ era of 6 championships is accustomed to. Their worries got worse after the mid-season rebuild, as they traded away half the roster. Because of this, in February, Chicago played 11 games and had 0 wins, becoming the only team in the NBA to go winless that month.

Bulls Executive VP of Basketball Operations Arturas Karnisovas tore down the roster at this year’s trade deadline. Coby White went to the Charlotte Hornets. Ayo Dosunmu went to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Nikola Vucevic landed with the Boston Celtics. In return, Chicago got four unrestricted free agents the team’s available cap space this summer.

The Bulls also acquired two young guards whom they can keep and develop, if they want to, in Jaden Ivey and Rob Dillingham. Karnisovas added nine second-round picks to his stash as well. Will this be enough for a rebuild? Josh Giddey thinks so.

“When I was in Oklahoma, we went from the worst team in the league to the best team in the league in 24 months. We did it pretty quickly. A lot of rebuilds don’t necessarily happen that fast. Obviously, with the people and personnel we had, it got speeded up pretty quickly.”

He is hoping that the Bulls have the same fate as OKC, which had one of the most triumphant tank-and-draft turnarounds in NBA history. If Chicago can do it, then playoff success can follow, which was very evident during the Michael Jordan era.