Chicago Bulls

Dwyane Wade ain't leaving Miami empty-handed ... 'cause his former teammate, Dorell Wright, just hooked him up with an awesome custom art piece to bid him farewell.

Wright -- who played with Wade for 6 years on the Heat -- hit up Michael Farhat of ART Mobb ... and commissioned him to make a one-of-a-kind art piece for his "big brother," D. Wade.

The vision? Farhat told us it's "Wade reflecting on the success and hard work he put in Miami and using that as motivation for Chicago."

The project -- which took 7 hours to complete -- was spray painted on a piece of plexiglass using handmade stencils ... and it's dope.

Rajon Rondo is pumped to have Dwayne Wade in Chicago -- not just on the court -- telling TMZ Sports he's super excited about teaming up with DW to mentor young black men in the community.

Don't get it twisted, Rondo says he's fired up about the Bulls' chances this year -- but says the guys really click when it comes to helping people.

There's one die-hard Chicagoan who's actually HAPPY Derrick Rose is no longer wearing a Bulls uniform ... Common ... who says the NBA star wanted out of the Chi, and he's happy he got his wish.

Common was leaving Equinox -- where he practically LIVES -- and asked the huge Bulls fan how he felt about the blockbuster trade that sent Rose to the Knicks.

Tracy McGrady thinks there was a way to stop Michael Jordan & the Bulls from winning the '97 NBA title ... just add a little T-Mac ... saying the team woulda never won had he been on the squad.

We got McGrady out at LAX and asked him about his claim that he was almost traded for Scottie Pippen during the 1997 NBA Draft.

The Bulls went on to win a ring that year so the question is ... would they have won that title with a young McGrady instead of an old(ish) Pip?

Check out the clip -- T-Mac keeps it real ... saying he was just too damn young (18 when he was drafted) to help the Bulls win a 'chip in '97.

Klay Thompson's dad Mychal Thompson is calling out Scottie Pippen ... saying his son's team would definitely beat the '96 Bulls in a never-gonna-happen fantasy basketball series.

Thompson -- a former NBA #1 overall pick -- was out in L.A. when we asked him about Pip saying his record setting Bulls team would SWEEP the Warriors if the two were able to magically meet up.

The comments caught fire on social media with some accusing Pippen of old man "get off my yard" nostalgic bravado ... and some saying he was dead on.

Count Mychal among that first group ... 'cause he says Steph and the gang would take out MJ and Pippen's crew in a sizzling seven game series.

Former "Entourage" star Jeremy Piven has an answer to the biggest sports question currently dogging his native city of Chicago ...

Is it time to finally give up on former MVP Derrick Rose?

Rose hasn't been the same since he won the award a few years ago ... and after all the injuries, legal issues and subpar play, some are wondering if it's high time to move on.

We got Piven -- a die hard Chicago sports fan -- doing some shopping out in L.A. and laid the question out to him ... his answer is sure to make the entire Rose family breathe a sigh of relief.

Dear Kendall Jenner ...

Sick of sharing Justin Bieber with your sister?

Well, meet Chicago Bulls small forward Doug McDermott.

He's 6'8". He's rich. And he's down to hook up!

Check out this clip of Doug in Bev Hills -- raving about the Kardashian family ... and Kendall in particular.

In fact, the guy hit TMZ Sports with the task of "hooking it up" ... so, here ya go!!!

Funny candid moment with Rudy Tomjanovich.

The former Rockets and Lakers head coach was at Staples Center Tuesday night for the game ... when asked a question everyone's trying to figure out -- how do you beat the Warriors?

His answer's pretty funny.

We also asked if he thinks the Warriors can win 73 games this season ... eclipsing the 95-96 Bulls.

The Golden State Warriors are good ... but they're NOT the 1996 Chicago Bulls ... so says Ron Harper who says his squad is the greatest NBA team of all time.

The Warriors are 12-0 and dominating -- crushing opponents by an average of 15 points a game ... drawing comparisons to the legendary '96 Bulls ... the first team to ever win 70 regular season games.

We asked Ron if he thought the Warriors had a shot to break their record (72-10), he didn't hold back.

"Records are made to be broken but that Bulls team was built on defense and was a BETTER team than the Golden State Warriors."

Harper added, "and no one wins a championship in November and December."

FYI -- the Bulls started 10-2 through their first 12 games ... with superstars like Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Toni Kukoc and Dennis Rodman playing out of their minds on their way to an NBA title.

By the way, Steve Kerr was also on the '96 Bulls team ... and happens to be the current coach of Golden State.

Michael Jordan's former Chicago Bulls teammate is coming to his defense ... with Ron Harper telling us Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's criticism of MJ is simply unfair ... he ABSOLUTELY cares about people over shoe sales.

Kareem went after MJ during an event in D.C. last week for an incident that went down back in '92 ... when Jordan reportedly refused to help black democrat Harvey Gantt in his campaign to unseat racist republican senator Jesse Helms because "Republicans buy sneakers, too."

Kareem said, "You can’t be afraid of losing shoe sales if you’re worried about your civil and human rights. [Jordan] took commerce over conscience. It’s unfortunate for him, but he’s gotta live with it."

But Ron isn't buying what Kareem is selling -- claiming MJ is a "very conscientious kind of guy."

"He may not come out and tell the world [what his values are] ... but he's one of the smartest guys I've ever been around."

"New Girl" star Lamorne Morris is sick of Bulls fans dissing Derrick Rose for getting injured (again) ... telling TMZ Sports even a gimpy Derrick is still the Bulls best baller since MJ.

Morris was out at Warwick nightclub in L.A. Wednesday night when we asked the Chicago native and huge Bulls fan about the Windy City's reaction to D-Rose's latest injury setback.

It's been pretty bad for Derrick since it was announced he'd have to have ANOTHER knee surgery, with memes, tweets, and IG posts all slamming the injury prone superstar.

Check out the clip -- Morris goes off on anyone taking Rose to task, reminding Bulls fans just how much the team sucked after Jordan left, and saying the city is lucky to have him.

The Chicago Bulls made a HUUUGE mistake when they traded Olden Polynice for Scottie Pippen back in 1987 ... so says O.P. who claims the team would've won THREE MORE RINGS.

The 49-year-old ex-NBA star was out in L.A. this week and talked about the blockbuster trade from the '87 NBA Draft ... when he was selected by the Bulls as the 8th overall pick -- but was then immediately traded to the Seattle SuperSonics for Pippen.

"We were never SUPPOSED to be traded," Olden tells us ... "If I had played for Chicago, we woulda won more titles."

"And I didn't have migraines early on in my career ... I've never had migraines like Scottie ... so there were a couple of years they really could've beaten Detroit ... and they didn't."

BTW -- Scottie was ranked as one of the 50 greatest players in the history of the NBA ... but Olden says that stat doesn't matter -- he would have been the better man for the Bulls.

In fact, O.P. says had the Bulls kept him -- instead of Pippen -- they would've won at least 3 more titles (9 overall) ... and Michael Jordan "woulda been knockin' on Bill Russell's door."

51-year-old Michael Jordan could still DESTROY some NBA players ... despite the fact he hasn't played in the league in more than a decade ... so says Charlotte Bobcats big man Al Jefferson.

Now that Al plays for MJ's team ... we had to ask if he's ever challenged his boss to a little 1-on-1 when no one was looking.

"Nah, he might beat me ... embarrass me man ... hurt my confidence!"

Al could have a point -- after all, MJ was seen DUNKING at a shoot-around session a couple of months ago.

Baller.

During last night's game between the Memphis Grizzlies and the Chicago Bulls, ESPN's Jon Barry either dropped a very causal F-bomb or ... well, we really don't have another option.

As Grizzlies center Marc Gasol drained a midrange jumper, Barry remarked, "four f**king jumpers he's knocked down."

It's possible Barry said something else (one site postulated he was trying to say "flat-footed" jumpers), but it's clear he got a little tongue-tied.

Zach Randolph has some serious 'splainin' to do ... 'cause the Memphis Grizzlies star hit up the L.A. club scene this weekend wearing a CHICAGO BULLS HAT ... and TMZ Sports has the footage.

Randolph and his crew rolled into Greystone Manor in Hollywood on Sunday night ... and even though he didn't feel like talking, he definitely made a huge statement with his choice of headgear.

Of course, San Francisco 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick took a TON of heat for a similar situation earlier this year ... when he was seen out with a Miami Dolphins hat on.

Michael Jordan says there's only one guy who would beat him in a game of 1-on-1 ... and it ain't LeBron James -- it's Kobe Bryant.

MJ made the statement in a video promoting the NBA 2K14 -- while talking about a bunch of NBA legends he would've liked to ball against in their prime, including Jerry West, D-Wade, Carmelo, Kobe, LeBron and more.

"I don't think I would lose," Jordan says ... adding, "other than to Kobe Bryant because he steals all of my moves."

MJ was later asked who was the better player -- Kobe or LBJ -- and explained, "In terms of dominance in the game of basketball at this stage, it's LeBron."