2011–12 Chicago Bulls season explained

Team:	Chicago Bulls
End Year:	2012
Divisionwin:	yes
Wins:	50
Losses:	16
Division:	Central
Division Place:	1st
Conf Place:	1st
Coach:	Tom Thibodeau
Gm:	Gar Forman
Owners:	Jerry Reinsdorf
Arena:	United Center
Television:	CSN Chicago (35 games) WGN America (10 games) WGN-TV (14 games) WCIU-TV (6 games)
Radio:	WMVP
Playoffs:	First round (lost to 76ers 2–4)
Bbr Team:	CHI

The 2011–12 Chicago Bulls season was the 46th season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Bulls finished the lockout-shortened season with a 50–16 record, or roughly 62–20 in a full season, tying the San Antonio Spurs for the best record of the season. They ended as the number one seed in the Eastern Conference for a second consecutive season.

Chicago started their playoff run on April 28, taking Game 1 of the first round against the Philadelphia 76ers at the United Center. However, that victory was marred with the season-ending injury of point guard and reigning MVP Derrick Rose, who tore his anterior cruciate ligament in the final minutes of the game.^[1] Chicago then lost three games in a row and were also without the services of starting center Joakim Noah for Games 4 and 5 of the series following an injury in his left ankle during Game 3 in Philadelphia.^[2] The Bulls won one more game at home before losing the series 2–4 in Philadelphia and became the fifth number one seed in league history to lose a playoffs series against a number eight seed, following the Seattle SuperSonics in 1994, the Miami Heat in 1999, the Dallas Mavericks in 2007, the San Antonio Spurs in 2011, and followed by the Milwaukee Bucks in 2023.^[3]

Key dates

• June 23: The 2011 NBA draft took place at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.^[4]
• November 1: Chicago Bulls first game of the season, against the Dallas Mavericks was scheduled, but was cancelled due to the lockout.^[5]
• December 25: Chicago Bulls first game of the season, against the Los Angeles Lakers.^[6] The Bulls won 88–87, in Los Angeles.
• March 24: Chicago secured a spot in the 2012 NBA Playoffs with a 102–101 victory against the Toronto Raptors.^[7]
• April 12: The Bulls clinch the Central Division title with a 96–86 win against the Miami Heat.^[8]

Summary

NBA draft

See main article: 2011 NBA draft.

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	School/Club Team
1	23	Nikola Mirotić	F		Real Madrid (Spain)
1	30	Jimmy Butler	G/F		Marquette

Pre-season

|- style="background:#cfc;"| 1| December 16| @ Indiana| 95–86| Derrick Rose,
Luol Deng (16)| Taj Gibson (9)| Derrick Rose (4)| Conseco Fieldhouse 14,013| 1–0|- style="background:#cfc;"| 2| December 20| Indiana| 93–85| Carlos Boozer (24)| Joakim Noah (8)| Derrick Rose (9)| United Center 21,659| 2–0

Regular season

Game log

|- style="background:#cfc;"| 1| December 25| @ L. A. Lakers| | Derrick Rose (22)| Joakim Noah (9)| Derrick Rose (5)| Staples Center
18,997| 1–0|- style="background:#fcc;"| 2| December 26| @ Golden State| | Luol Deng (22)| Luol Deng
Joakim Noah (10)| Derrick Rose (8)| Oracle Arena
19,596| 1–1|- style="background:#cfc;"| 3| December 29| @ Sacramento| | Derrick Rose (19)| Carlos Boozer (15)| C. J. Watson (9)| Power Balance Pavilion
17,317| 2–1|- style="background:#cfc;"| 4| December 30| @ L. A. Clippers| | Derrick Rose (29)| Derrick Rose (8)| Derrick Rose (16)| Staples Center
19,426| 3–1|- style="background:#cfc;"| 5| January 1| Memphis| | Carlos Boozer
Ronnie Brewer (17)| Carlos Boozer (11)| Derrick Rose (6)| United Center
22,763| 4–1|- style="background:#cfc;"| 6| January 3| Atlanta| | Derrick Rose (30)| Carlos Boozer (9)| Derrick Rose (7)| United Center
22,166| 5–1|- style="background:#cfc;"| 7| January 4| @ Detroit| | Carlos Boozer (19)| Joakim Noah (11)| Derrick Rose (10)| The Palace of Auburn Hills
9,125| 6–1|- style="background:#cfc;"| 8| January 6| @ Orlando| | Derrick Rose
Luol Deng (21)| Carlos Boozer (13)| Derrick Rose (10)| Amway Center
18,192| 7–1|- style="background:#fcc;"| 9| January 7| @ Atlanta| | John Lucas (16)| Ömer Aşık (13)| Derrick Rose (6)| Philips Arena
17,112| 7–2|- style="background:#cfc;"| 10| January 9| Detroit| | Carlos Boozer (23)| Carlos Boozer
Joakim Noah (8)| Derrick Rose (8)| United Center
21,530| 8–2|- style="background:#cfc;"| 11| January 10| @ Minnesota| | Derrick Rose (31)| Luol Deng
Joakim Noah (11)| Derrick Rose (11)| Target Center
19,356| 9–2|- style="background:#cfc;"| 12| January 11| Washington| | John Lucas (25)| Luol Deng (15)| John Lucas (8)| United Center
21,366| 10–2|- style="background:#cfc;"| 13| January 13| @ Boston| | Derrick Rose (25)| Luol Deng (16)| Derrick Rose (7)| TD Garden
18,624| 11–2|- style="background:#cfc;"| 14| January 14| Toronto| | Derrick Rose (18)| Carlos Boozer (13)| Derrick Rose (11)| United Center
21,962| 12–2|- style="background:#fcc;"| 15| January 16| @ Memphis| | Luol Deng (20)| Carlos Boozer (7)| C. J. Watson
Luol Deng (3)| FedExForum
18,119| 12–3|- style="background:#cfc;"| 16| January 17| Phoenix| | Carlos Boozer (31)| Joakim Noah (12)| Richard Hamilton
Kyle Korver (6)| United Center
21,347| 13–3|- style="background:#cfc;"| 17| January 20| @ Cleveland| | Luol Deng (21)| Carlos Boozer (14)| C. J. Watson (7)| Quicken Loans Arena
17,871| 14–3|- style="background:#cfc;"| 18| January 21| Charlotte| | Carlos Boozer (23)| Ömer Aşık (15)| Mike James (10)| United Center
21,861| 15–3|- style="background:#cfc;"| 19| January 23| New Jersey| | Richard Hamilton (22)| Joakim Noah (10)| Richard Hamilton (10)| United Center
21,572| 16–3|- style="background:#fcc;"| 20| January 25| Indiana| | Derrick Rose (24)| Joakim Noah (13)| Ronnie Brewer (5)| United Center
21,755| 16–4|- style="background:#cfc;"| 21| January 27| Milwaukee| | Derrick Rose (34)| Joakim Noah (16)| Ronnie Brewer (6)| United Center
22,368| 17–4|- style="background:#fcc;"| 22| January 29| @ Miami| | Derrick Rose (34)| Joakim Noah (11)| Derrick Rose (11)| American Airlines Arena
20,054| 17–5|- style="background:#cfc;"| 23| January 30| @ Washington| | Derrick Rose (35)| Joakim Noah (13)| Derrick Rose (8)| Verizon Center
18,357| 18–5|- style="background:#fcc;"| 24| February 1| @ Philadelphia| | C. J. Watson (20)| Carlos Boozer (9)| Derrick Rose (6)| Wells Fargo Center
18,325| 18–6|- style="background:#cfc;"| 25| February 2| @ New York| | Derrick Rose (32)| Carlos Boozer
Joakim Noah (9)| Derrick Rose (13)| Madison Square Garden
19,763| 19–6|- style="background:#cfc;"| 26| February 4| @ Milwaukee| | Derrick Rose (26)| Luol Deng
Joakim Noah (9)| Derrick Rose (13)| Bradley Center
18,717| 20–6|- style="background:#cfc;"| 27| February 6| @ New Jersey| | Carlos Boozer (24)| Joakim Noah (12)| C. J. Watson (11)| Prudential Center
15,327| 21–6|- style="background:#cfc;"| 28| February 8| @ New Orleans| | Carlos Boozer (18)| Joakim Noah (10)| Derrick Rose (6)| New Orleans Arena
15,456| 22–6|- style="background:#cfc;"| 29| February 10| @ Charlotte| | Joakim Noah (17)| Joakim Noah (14)| C. J. Watson (5)| Time Warner Cable Arena
19,379| 23–6|- style="background:#fcc;"| 30| February 12| @ Boston| | Carlos Boozer
C. J. Watson (22)| Joakim Noah (9)| Ronnie Brewer
C. J. Watson (6)| TD Garden
18,624| 23–7|- style="background:#cfc;"| 31| February 14| Sacramento| | Luol Deng (23)| Joakim Noah (11)| Luol Deng (11)| United Center
21,936| 24–7|- style="background:#cfc;"| 32| February 16| Boston| | Luol Deng
Carlos Boozer (23)| Joakim Noah (16)| Luol Deng (10)| United Center
22,592| 25–7|- style="background:#fcc;"| 33| February 18| New Jersey| | Carlos Boozer
Mike James (16)| Carlos Boozer
Taj Gibson (9)| Mike James (7)| United Center
22,300| 25–8|- style="background:#cfc;"| 34| February 20| Atlanta| | Derrick Rose (23)| Joakim Noah (16)| Derrick Rose (6)| United Center
22,033| 26–8|- style="background:#cfc;"| 35| February 22| Milwaukee| | Carlos Boozer (20)| Joakim Noah (13)| Joakim Noah (10)| United Center
21,507| 27–8|- style="text-align:center;"| colspan="9" style="background:#bbcaff;"|All-Star Break|- style="background:#cfc;"| 36| February 28| New Orleans| | Derrick Rose (32)| Joakim Noah (16)| Derrick Rose (9)| United Center
21,919| 28–8|- style="background:#cfc;"| 37| February 29| @ San Antonio| | Derrick Rose (29)| Joakim Noah (13)| Derrick Rose
C.J. Watson (4)| AT&T Center
18,581| 29–8

|- style="background:#cfc;"| 38| March 2| @ Cleveland| | Luol Deng (24)| Carlos Boozer (11)| Derrick Rose (9)| Quicken Loans Arena
20,562| 30–8|- style="background:#cfc;"| 39| March 4| @ Philadelphia| | Derrick Rose (35)| Joakim Noah (18)| Derrick Rose (8)| Wells Fargo Center
19,683| 31–8|- style="background:#cfc;"| 40| March 5| Indiana| | Luol Deng (20)| Joakim Noah (17)| Derrick Rose (9)| United Center
22,106| 32–8|- style="background:#cfc;"| 41| March 7| @ Milwaukee| | Derrick Rose (30)| Joakim Noah (10)| Derrick Rose (11)| Bradley Center
15,389| 33–8|- style="background:#fcc;"| 42| March 8| Orlando| | Carlos Boozer (26)| Joakim Noah (10)| Derrick Rose (9)| United Center
22,127| 33–9|- style="background:#cfc;"| 43| March 10| Utah| | Carlos Boozer (27)| Carlos Boozer (8)| Derrick Rose (13)| United Center
22,158| 34–9|- style="background:#cfc;"| 44| March 12| New York| | Derrick Rose (32)| Taj Gibson (13)| Derrick Rose
Ronnie Brewer (7)| United Center
22,863| 35–9|- style="background:#cfc;"| 45| March 14| Miami| | John Lucas III (24)| Carlos Boozer
Taj Gibson (8)| Carlos Boozer (5)| United Center
23,028| 36–9|- style="background:#fcc;"| 46| March 16| Portland| | Carlos Boozer (22)| Carlos Boozer (14)| Joakim Noah (5)| United Center
22,022| 36–10|- style="background:#cfc;"| 47| March 17| Philadelphia| | C.J. Watson (20)| Joakim Noah (11)| Joakim Noah
Taj Gibson (4)| United Center
22,225| 37–10|- style="background:#cfc;"| 48| March 19| @ Orlando| | Carlos Boozer (24)| Carlos Boozer (13)| Joakim Noah (5)| Amway Center
18,998| 38–10|- style="background:#cfc;"| 49| March 21| @ Toronto| | Luol Deng (17)| Luol Deng (10)| Joakim Noah (5)| Air Canada Centre
17,869| 39–10|- style="background:#cfc;"| 50| March 24| Toronto| | Carlos Boozer (24)| Carlos Boozer
Luol Deng (10)| John Lucas III (6)| United Center
21,841| 40–10|- style="background:#fcc;"| 51| March 26| Denver| | C.J. Watson (17)| Carlos Boozer
Taj Gibson (7)| C.J. Watson (8)| United Center
22,274| 40–11|- style="background:#cfc;"| 52| March 28| @ Atlanta| | Luol Deng (22)| Carlos Boozer (9)| John Lucas III (5)| Philips Arena
16,290| 41–11|- style="background:#cfc;"| 53| March 30| Detroit| | Luol Deng (20)| Joakim Noah (12)| C.J. Watson (5)| United Center
22,385| 42–11

|- style="background:#fcc;"| 54| April 1| @ Oklahoma City| | John Lucas III (19)| Taj Gibson (11)| Kyle Korver
John Lucas III (4)| Chesapeake Energy Arena
18,203| 42–12|- style="background:#fcc;"| 55| April 2| Houston| | Luol Deng (24)| Carlos Boozer (13)| Carlos Boozer (7)| United Center
21,936| 42–13|- style="background:#cfc;"| 56| April 5| Boston| | Luol Deng (26)| Carlos Boozer (14)| C.J. Watson (8)| United Center
22,423| 43–13|- style="background:#fcc;"| 57| April 8| @ New York| | Derrick Rose (29)| Carlos Boozer (16)| Derrick Rose (4)| Madison Square Garden
19,763| 43–14|- style="background:#cfc;"| 58| April 10| New York| | Richard Hamilton (20)| Luol Deng (10)| C.J. Watson (7)| United Center
22,131| 44–14|- style="background:#cfc;"| 59| April 12| Miami| | Carlos Boozer (19)| Carlos Boozer (11)| C.J. Watson (9)| United Center
23,015| 45–14|- style="background:#cfc;"| 60| April 15| @ Detroit| | Derrick Rose (24)| Joakim Noah (17)| Derrick Rose (9)| The Palace of Auburn Hills
17,450| 46–14|- style="background:#fcc;"| 61| April 16| Washington| | Richard Hamilton (22)| Carlos Boozer (13)| C.J. Watson (8)| United Center
22,307| 46–15|- style="background:#cfc;"| 62| April 18| @ Charlotte| | Richard Hamilton (22)| Ömer Aşık (15)| Richard Hamilton (6)| Time Warner Cable Arena
14,221| 47–15|- style="background:#fcc;"| 63| April 19| @ Miami| | John Lucas III (16)| Joakim Noah (10)| C.J. Watson
John Lucas III (4)| American Airlines Arena
20,008| 47–16|- style="background:#cfc;"| 64| April 21| Dallas| | Luol Deng (22)| Joakim Noah (14)| Derrick Rose
Joakim Noah (8)| United Center
22,945| 48–16|- style="background:#cfc;"| 65| April 25| @ Indiana| | Kyle Korver (20)| Joakim Noah (14)| Derrick Rose (7)| Bankers Life Fieldhouse
18,165| 49–16|- style="background:#cfc;"| 66| April 26| Cleveland| | John Lucas III (25)| Joakim Noah
Taj Gibson (12)| C.J. Watson (8)| United Center
22,563| 50–16

Player statistics

Season

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
	66	2	14.7	.506	.000	.456	5.3	0.5	0.45	1.03	3.1
	66	66	29.5	.532	.000	.693	8.5	1.9	0.95	0.36	15.0
	66	43	24.8	.427	.275	.560	3.5	2.1	1.09	0.32	6.9
	42	0	8.5	.405	.185	.768	1.3	0.3	0.26	0.12	2.6
	54	54	39.4	.412	.367	.770	6.5	2.9	1.04	0.67	15.3
	63	0	20.4	.495	.000	.622	5.3	0.7	0.43	1.29	7.7
	28	28	24.9	.452	.370	.784	2.4	3.0	0.43	0.04	11.6
	11	0	10.9	.408	.600	.875	0.9	2.6	0.36	0.18	4.8
	65	7	22.6	.432	.435	.833	2.4	1.7	0.55	0.23	8.1
	49	2	14.8	.399	.393	.867	1.6	2.2	0.39	0.02	7.5
	64	64	30.4	.508	.000	.748	9.8	2.5	0.64	1.44	10.2
	39	39	35.3	.435	.312	.812	3.4	7.9	0.90	0.72	21.8
	28	0	4.4	.467	.143	.500	0.8	0.5	0.18	0.21	1.1
	49	25	23.7	.368	.393	.808	2.1	4.1	0.92	0.16	9.7

• Statistics with the Chicago Bulls.^[9]

Playoffs

Game log

|- style="background:#cfc;"| 1| April 28| Philadelphia| | Derrick Rose (23)| Joakim Noah (13)| Derrick Rose (9)| United Center
21,943| 1–0|- style="background:#fcc;"| 2| May 1| Philadelphia| | Joakim Noah (21)| Joakim Noah (8)| Richard Hamilton
Joakim Noah (5)| United Center
22,067| 1–1|- style="background:#fcc;"| 3| May 4| @ Philadelphia| | Carlos Boozer (18)| Carlos Boozer (10)| Richard Hamilton (7)| Wells Fargo Center
20,381| 1–2|- style="background:#fcc;"| 4| May 6| @ Philadelphia| | Carlos Boozer (23)| Taj Gibson (12)| C.J. Watson
Carlos Boozer (4)| Wells Fargo Center
20,412| 1–3|- style="background:#cfc;"| 5| May 8| Philadelphia| | Luol Deng (24)| Carlos Boozer (13)| C.J. Watson (7)| United Center
22,093| 2–3|- style="background:#fcc;"| 6| May 10| @ Philadelphia| | Luol Deng, Richard Hamilton (19)| Luol Deng (17)| C. J. Watson (10)| Wells Fargo Center
20,362| 2–4

Playoff statistics

|- style="text-align:center;" bgcolor=""| | 6 || 3 || 21.3 || .500 || || .353 || 4.7 || 1.3 || .2 || 1.6 || 3.3|- style="text-align:center; background:#f0f0f0;"| | 6 || 6 || 33.3 || .422 || || .714 || 9.8 || 3.0 || .8 || .3 || 13.5|- style="text-align:center;" bgcolor=""| | 5 || 0 || 16.6 || .250 || || .000 || 3.8 || 1.8 || .8 || .2 || 1.6|- style="text-align:center; background:#f0f0f0;"| | 3 || 0 || 1.3 || || || || .0 || .0 || .0 || .0 || .0|- style="text-align:center;" bgcolor=""| | 6 || 6 || 38.0 || .456 || .364 || .571 || 8.3 || 1.5 || .8 || 1.5 || 14.0|- style="text-align:center; background:#f0f0f0;"| | 6 || 0 || 22.8 || .457 || || .682 || 6.5 || .7 || .7 || 1.7 || 9.5|- style="text-align:center;" bgcolor=""| | 6 || 6 || 28.5 || .414 || .333 || .818 || 3.2 || 3.0 || .2 || .0 || 13.0|- style="text-align:center; background:#f0f0f0;"| | 6 || 0 || 15.7 || .409 || .308 || .500 || 1.7 || 1.5 || .5 || .5 || 3.8|- style="text-align:center;" bgcolor=""| | 5 || 0 || 18.8 || .450 || .385 || 1.000 || 1.4 || 1.8 || .0 || .0 || 8.6|- style="text-align:center; background:#f0f0f0;"| | 3 || 3 || 15.0 || .731 || || .636 || 9.3 || 3.0 || .7 || 1.3 || 15.0|- style="text-align:center;" bgcolor=""| | 1 || 1 || 37.0 || .391 || .500 || 1.000 || 9.0 || 9.0 || 1.0 || 1.0 || 23.0|- style="text-align:center;" bgcolor=""| | 6 || 5 || 27.3 || .241 || .250 || .750 || 2.2 || 5.5 || .8 || .0 || 7.3|}

Awards, records and milestones

Awards

Week/Month

• On January 16, Derrick Rose was named Eastern Conference Player of the Week (January 9 – January 15)^[10]
• Coach Tom Thibodeau was named Coach of the Month for December–January.^[11]
• Coach Tom Thibodeau was named Eastern Conference Coach of the Month for March, 2012.^[12]

All-Star

• Derrick Rose was voted as an All-Star for the 3rd consecutive time, 2nd consecutive time as a starter.^[13]
• Luol Deng was voted as an All-Star reserve for the 1st time.^[14]
• Coach Tom Thibodeau was selected as Head Coach of the Eastern Conference All-Stars.^[15]

Transactions

See main article: List of 2011–12 NBA season transactions.

Overview

Players Added Via draft Jimmy Butler Via free agency Richard Hamilton Mike James

Players Lost Via free agency Rasual Butler Kurt Thomas Waived Keith Bogans Jannero Pargo

Trades

June 23, 2011

To Chicago Bulls Draft rights to Nikola Mirotić

To Minnesota Timberwolves Draft rights to Norris Cole Draft rights to Malcolm Lee Cash Considerations

Free agents

Additions
Player	Date signed	Former team
Richard Hamilton	December 14	Detroit Pistons
Mike James	April 5	Chicago Bulls

Many players signed with teams from other leagues due to the 2011 NBA lockout. FIBA allows players under NBA contracts to sign and play for teams from other leagues if the contracts have opt-out clauses that allow the players to return to the NBA if the lockout ends.^[16] The Chinese Basketball Association, however, only allows its clubs to sign foreign free agents who could play for at least the entire season.^[17]

See also

• 2011–12 NBA season

Notes and References

1. https://www.espn.com/chicago/nba/story/_/id/7866701/2012-nba-playoffs-chicago-bulls-derrick-rose-suffers-torn-acl-philadelphia-76ers Bulls' Derrick Rose tears ACL
2. https://www.espn.com/chicago/nba/story/_/id/7892542/chicago-bulls-center-joakim-noah-hurts-ankle-philadelphia-76ers Joakim Noah injured in Game 3
3. https://www.tsn.ca/nba/story/?id=395624 76ers Upset Bulls To Advance To Second Round
4. Web site: Report: NBA draft moving to Newark. ESPN.com. October 27, 2010. October 27, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20101030154621/http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=5733121. 30 October 2010 . live.
5. Web site: Chicago Bulls announce 2011–12 schedule. nba.com/bulls. July 19, 2011. July 19, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110722140334/http://www.nba.com/bulls/schedule/bulls-announce-2011-12-schedule.html. July 22, 2011. dead.
6. News: Shorter NBA schedule has 42 back-to-back-to-backs. December 2, 2011. December 3, 2011. Brian. Mahoney. Associated Press. Yahoo! Sports.
7. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-03-24/sports/ct-spt-0325-bulls-raptors-chicago--20120325_1_tom-thibodeau-twitter-kcjhoop-poor-defensive-transition Bulls take 102-101 OT victory over Raptors
8. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-04-12/sports/ct-spt-0413-bulls-heat-chicago--20120413_1_bulls-bench-watson-coach-tom-thibodeau Bulls bench strong in overcoming Heat 96-86
9. Web site: Bulls stats. nba.com/bulls.
10. Web site: Bulls' Rose, Lakers' Bryant named NBA Players of the Week | NBA.com . . 2012-02-10 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120123042004/http://www.nba.com/2012/news/01/16/rose-bryant-pow/index.html . 2012-01-23 . dead .
11. Web site: Thibodeau, Brooks named Coaches of the Month NBA.com . . 2012-02-10 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120209215759/http://www.nba.com/2012/news/02/01/coaches-of-the-month/index.html . 2012-02-09 . dead .
12. Web site: Bulls' Thibodeau named the NBA Eastern Conference Coach of the Month for March . .
13. Web site: Archived copy . 2012-02-10 . 2012-02-06 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120206050050/http://hangtime.blogs.nba.com/2012/02/02/east-starters-no-rest-for-the-awesome/ . dead .
14. Web site: All-Star Game All-Star 2012 NBA.com . . 2012-02-10 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120213042639/http://www.nba.com/2012/allstar/2012/02/09/east-reserves/index.html?ls=iref:nbahpt1 . 2012-02-13 . dead .
15. https://www.espn.com/chicago/nba/story/_/id/7576804/chicago-bulls-tom-thibodeau-coach-eastern-all-stars Tom Thibodeau to coach East at ASG
16. https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/6815642/ "FIBA: NBA stars can play overseas"
17. News: Sun Xiaochen . New rule shuts door on NBA stars . August 21, 2011 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20110830142537/http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/sports/2011-08/21/content_13157487.htm . live . August 30, 2011.