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7 years in the NBA, and finally, his first as an All-Star.

Sam Smith, of course wrote up his journey in far better detail than I ever could here.

As many long time readers know, I've been a long time Bulls fan. My interest in basketball developing alongside those mid-80's Bulls teams. I never really got a chance to see any of the championship era Bulls teams live, but I was a huge fan. When the Baby Bull teams led by Hinrich, Gordon and Deng were in ascension. I was hooked. I was proud and happy to own and wear my Deng jersey:

In 2006-2007, he played 82 games, averaging 18.8 points, 7.1 rebounds, and shot a blistering 51.7% from the field on the strength of a mid-range jumper that looked so sweet. Between Hinrich, Gordon and Deng, it seemed certain Chicago would have an All-Star.

Instead, it never was. Trade talks, contract talks, and injuries took their toll. By the end of the 2009-2010 season, it looked like we knew what we were going to get out of Luol: a 3rd or 4th option on a team that would continue to have injury concerns throughout his career.

Fortunately, Coach Thibs came on board, and instead of lowering expectations, he raised the bar and issued a challenge, a challenge Deng was all too happy to embrace. Instead of playing him less minutes, he played him more, eventually being the anchor, and the ongoing joke that Coach Thibs would play Deng more than 48 minutes in a regular basketball game if he could. I talked about it briefly back in 2010 as well.

His raw statistics may not leap out of the stat sheet, but the effect that he has on both ends of the court makes a huge difference for this Bulls team.

Congrats Lu! Can't wait to see you on the court in Orlando!