Twenty five years ago, Michael Jordan became Michael Jordan, or as Larry Bird said, “God disguised as Michael Jordan.” He put up 63 points on the Boston Celtics. Although they got swept, the Bulls went from being a second-rate franchise to having one of the greatest stretches in NBA history. I was young, but I vividly remember how unstoppable they were. Jordan might as well have been God because no one had more power than he did.

Flash forward to 2011. I think we are witnessing the birth of another great team. Enough has been written about Derrick Rose. He’s an amazing player and a humble guy. A number of stat geeks like to point out that he doesn’t put up the best numbers all the time. You know what’s the most important stat? Wins. The very fact that Rose doesn’t care about numbers – and is willing to do whatever it takes to win, regardless of how it might affect his stat line – is the reason he should be MVP. He’s the biggest part of why the Bulls are what they are. But he’s not the only part.

There’s something about this Bulls team that seems bigger than any one season or one player. Everybody – from Derrick Rose to Luol Deng to Joakim Noah to Brian Scalabrine (who doesn’t even dress) – has bought into the idea that if you work hard and show up every game, keep your head down and just play hard basketball, you are going to win. No one puts them self above the team. There’s no “talent taking” or posturing through the media. There’s no selfishness or “me first” attitudes. There’s only basketball. This team is special. They might not win it this year, but they will soon. I know it. As Derrick Rose has said, they just keep ballin’.