AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.<\/p>\n
Read our AI Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n The question was inevitable.<\/p>\n After the Chicago Bulls selected Caleb Wilson with the No. 4 pick in the NBA Draft<\/u><\/a> Tuesday, he became the first UNC player picked by the Bulls in the top five since 1984. The last player, Michael Jordan, carries a resume so distinguished that it hardly needs to be rehashed.<\/p>\n Read more Teen was killed by stepmom who used her 2 sons to hide evidence, NC sheriff says<\/a><\/p>\n Naturally, a reporter had to find out what Wilson thought of the parallels.<\/p>\n \u201cAre there some shoes to fill with that?\u201d the reporter asked.<\/p>\n As Wilson heard the question, he nodded along, taking it seriously. Before responding, he put his head down and released a brief chuckle, seemingly acknowledging the magnitude of the topic.<\/p>\n But Wilson didn\u2019t shy away.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m writing my own story, honestly,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cI want to be better than Mike.\u201d<\/p>\n Jordan \u2014 who won six NBA Championships, all of which he won Finals MVP, five regular-season MVPs and was a 10-time scoring champion \u2014 is perhaps a player no young NBA talent should compare themselves to, especially not before playing a single professional minute.<\/p>\n But Wilson, who averaged 19.8 points, 9.4 rebounds and 1.5 steals in 24 games as a freshman, didn\u2019t brush off the question. He is \u201chungry\u201d to succeed and seems to view Jordan\u2019s legacy as the bar to clear to realize his limitless potential.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m always going to do everything it takes to get better,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cI want to be the greatest player of all time.\u201d<\/p>\n Wilson\u2019s only season at UNC was perhaps as meritorious as any Tar Heel freshman ever, as he finished as a second-team All-American and first-team All-ACC player. Only two other first-years, Antawn Jamison and Tyler Hansbrough, have ever accomplished the latter.<\/p>\n Wilson arrives in Chicago, providing hope amid a multi-year rebuild. The Bulls finished 12th in the Eastern Conference last season, but lucked into a top-four pick despite just over 20% odds to do so in the NBA Draft lottery.<\/p>\n Matas Buzelis and Josh Giddey are notable parts of the Bulls\u2019 young core, but Wilson is already being billed as a franchise cornerstone. The local newspapers, the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times, both gave Wilson the star treatment with large photos on their sports section covers after the draft.<\/p>\n NBA Draft experts laud Wilson\u2019s ceiling. The Athletic\u2019s Sam Vecenie<\/u><\/a> wrote that the 6-foot-9 forward has \u201chuge upside\u201d because of his \u201cblend of power, explosiveness and coordination\u201d in a scouting report. The 19-year-old Atlanta native has room to grow skill-wise and from beyond the 3-point line, Vecenie also wrote, but his potential is \u201cremarkably high.\u201d<\/p>\n The Bulls have made the playoffs just once in the last nine seasons, and last made the NBA Finals in 1998. Having recently brought in coach Thiago Splitter and executive vice president of basketball operations Bryson Graham, the organization is trying to remedy its recent failures.<\/p>\n \u201cExcited about (Wilson) being a part of this organization,\u201d Graham said, \u201chelping build out this culture and really reestablishing our identity as a team.\u201d<\/p>\n Bulls fans have high expectations, with their team playing in the third-largest market and having the fourth-most league championships. Jordan ushered in those assumptions, winning all the team\u2019s Larry O\u2019Brien trophies in the \u201990s<\/p>\n Wilson is arriving to fulfill them, and he is confident that he\u2019s ready, coming from a school that has won six men\u2019s basketball NCAA championships.<\/p>\n \u201cI always wanted to play for a franchise in college,\u201d Wilson said, \u201cand luckily, I am in the NBA with a great fan base in a storied program.\u201d<\/p>\n Wilson does the little things that often become part of the folklore of all-time greats, beloved by fans. He keeps a list of players<\/u><\/a> he wants to beat on his phone and he constantly changes his phone wallpaper<\/u><\/a> to motivate himself.<\/p>\n Read more North Carolina schools rank among most economically segregated. Does it matter?<\/a><\/p>\n Media personalities gush about Wilson\u2019s interview personality and draft experts rave about his dreamlike athleticism. Last season\u2019s UNC coach, Hubert Davis, loved Wilson\u2019s work ethic<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n Wilson would take his own initiative with film work, Davis said, scouting opponents earlier and more often than coaches mandated.<\/p>\n Leaning on his grit, Wilson announced his arrival to college basketball early, scoring 24 points in a 87-74 win over Kansas<\/u><\/a> on November 7.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople telling me I\u2019m not a top-three freshman in the ACC,\u201d Wilson said in a viral clip captured by CarolinaBlitz<\/u><\/a>, \u201cso I\u2019m just going to keep going out here and killing people.\u201d<\/p>\n Wilson went on to score double-digit points in every game he played after beating the Jayhawks, led by Tuesday\u2019s No. 2 pick, Darryn Peterson. He scored 23 points in UNC\u2019s 71-68 comeback win over Duke at the Smith Center on Feb. 7, memorable due to Seth Trimble\u2019s game-winning 3-pointer<\/a>.<\/p>\n But Wilson left UNC unsatisfied after he missed the final nine games of the Tar Heels\u2019 season with two different hand injuries.<\/p>\n Wilson was supposed to deliver joy to Chapel Hill with a regular-season-closing win over Duke, a string of wins in the ACC Tournament, and a run in the NCAA Tournament.<\/p>\n Instead, UNC lost to rival Duke<\/u><\/a>, to Clemson in the ACC Tournament<\/u><\/a> and then to VCU in the NCAA Tournament<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n Wilson couldn\u2019t play in any of the contests.<\/p>\n Before the draft, Wilson told ESPN\u2019s Malika Andrews<\/u><\/a> that he had a photo of himself walking into the Duke loss at Cameron Indoor Stadium on his phone background. He often looked at it when he was tired before a workout to remember how badly he wanted to play that evening.<\/p>\n \u201cThis guy right here would\u2019ve died to play,\u201d Wilson said in the interview.<\/p>\n