Bull of the Day: Dickey Simpkins

When it comes to NBA players with funny names, Dickey Simpkins always comes to mind. Simpkins was a late first round pick of the Chicago Bulls in the 1994 NBA draft. Speaking of which, the 1994 draft was semi-loaded, with a top three of Glenn Robinson, Jason Kidd, and Grant Hill, followed by the likes of Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard, and Brian Grant.

In hindsight, the Bulls may have been slightly better off with Wesley Person or Charlie Ward, but Simpkins wasn't a bad pick. He didn't ever need to play behind the Bulls' readily established front court of Luc Longley, Dennis Rodman, Bill Wennington, Brian Williams, and Toni Kukoc. However, the Bulls liked Simpkins enough to bring him back after trading him to the Golden State Warriors for Stormin Normin-fave Scott Burrell at the start of the 1997-98 season.

After the Bulls' dynasty was disassembled, Simpkins slid into to start as an undersized center alongside the prolific Mark Bryant or the remarkably washed-up Andrew Lang. Believe it or not, as a young Bulls fan I was uber excited for the arrival of Andrew Lang. I vividly remember thinking that Lang COULD push the Bulls into playoff contention. Boy was I off.

Either way, Simpkins put up a decent stat line (about 9 points/7 boards), but the Bulls were easily the worst team in the NBA, if not the worst team ever assembled not named the Bobcats. The Bulls led the league in attendance, but Simpkins' 46% shooting was not strong enough to cement him as the starter last season. Though he started 49 games, Rookie of the Year Elton Brand was a much more natural fit at power forward, so the Bulls paired Brand with Chris Anstey and Will Perdue. The Bulls finished 17-65 that year, and bid goodbye to Simpkins.

Simpkins made a brief comeback for the Atlanta Hawks in the 2001-02 season, but unfortunately for Dickey, the comeback lasted just 3 minutes. According to his website, Simpkins went on to become an international all-star, and even won a title.

These days it seems that Simpkins lives in the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago, running a basketball training program. He's doing something right--top recruit Jalen Brunson plays for his AAU team, although for some reason he is pictured in a Mac Irvin Fire jersey in the same article.

I ran into Dickey a few times at my alma mater, and he seems like a great guy. Great Bull? That's for you to decide. I love any Bulls (particularly those from my childhood) more than I love my own family.

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