The Chicago Bulls got an upset win over the Orlando Magic, beating their Eastern Conference rival despite being without – among others – starters Nikola Vucevic and Patrick Williams. The Bulls did have Coby White, and he came through for them.
White finished with a career-high 44 points in the victory.
Former teammate Zach LaVine, now of the Sacramento Kings sent a fitting message on his former understudy and backcourt mate after the game.
“Coby mf White [triumphant emoji]!!” LaVine posted on X on March 6.
White is averaging 18.9 points, 4.5 assists, and 3.4 rebounds this season. It is a slight step back from his 19.1/5.1/4.5 line in 2023-24. His performance against the Magic continues a surge in which he has averaged 29.8 points per game over his last four outings.
Moreover, White has done that while shooting 35.6% from beyond the arc. He is shooting 36.7% from deep on the season.
That too is a step back from last season, when White shot 37.6% on his long-distance looks.
The Bulls had five players in double figures in the win over the Magic. Josh Giddey, who fell one assist shy of a triple-double with a 19-13-9 line, Tre Jones, Kevin Huerter, and Matas Buzelis all joined White.
Coby White Touts Teammates After Career Night vs Magic
With LaVine gone, White is the last Bulls player who was on the team before executive vice president of basketball operations Artūras Karnišovas took over. So while the guard is still on the younger side, he is the longest-tenured Bull and one of the veteran leaders on the team.
As such, White appropriately deflected credit for the Bulls overcoming a second-half deficit that climbed as high as 11 points to get the victory.
He called it a “total team effort.”
“I don’t look at it like what I did. I look at it as what we did as a whole, and we got it done. It was a hard fought, very physical game. We matched the physicality and then each and every one of us made some huge contributions, especially down the stretch,” White said, per NBA.com’s Sam Smith on March 6. “Julian (Phillips) and Matas (Buzelis) having to come in and play D (with both Bulls centers fouling out and Nikola Vučević unavailable).”
“Obviously, Tre (Jones with 20 points, 10 in the fourth quarter) made huge plays down the stretch on both ends of the court. Josh (Giddey with 19 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists) was aggressive all game. Everybody who came in played well, Talen (Horton-Tucker), DT (Dalen Terry); everyone contributed to the game in a huge way.”
Bulls Teammates Join Zach LaVine in Praise for Coby White
Still, teammates praised White’s contributions to the victory, including his fellow guard Lonzo Ball.
“Three words to describe Coby White’s performance tonight? I must say, inspirational will be my first word,” Ball told the Bulls social media team on March 6. “Second word: cold. Shout out to ‘Sub-Zero,’ man. Third word: euphoric.”
Phillips and Vucevic also chimed in.
3⃣ words to describe @CobyWhite…
Forty. Ball. Coby.
White is notably in Year 2 of a three-year, $36 million contract. He will be extension-eligible during the 2025 offseason.
The rest of this season could determine if White’s situation gets resolved sooner or later.
