Coby White on DeMar DeRozan: 'He doesn’t miss practice. He doesn’t miss shootaround. He’s early to everything'

“I always took care of myself to the fullest on the court and off the court,” DeRozan said. “I try to eat the best I can eat. I don’t do anything. I don’t go out. I don’t drink. … I try to take care of myself so I can be out there for those guys. And at the end of the day, I just love playing. I don’t look at it like it’s an age thing. I just want to play. I just love playing basketball.” -via The Athletic / April 15, 2024

“I love it. I want to play,” DeRozan said. “I tell Billy all the time, ‘Don’t take me out. I want to play.’ I want to be out there with the guys. I want to feel that challenge. Especially when you realize I’m not going to play for another 15 years, another 10 years. So while I’m here, I’m going to give it everything I’ve got. I don’t want to shortchange anybody: myself, my teammates, people who come to see me. -via The Athletic / April 15, 2024

For 15 seasons, DeRozan’s been as durable as they come. He’s appeared in 1,110 of 1,193 regular-season games, an eye-popping 93 percent of his team’s contests. Since he joined the Bulls in the 2021 offseason, DeRozan has missed only 17 of a possible 246 games. Even after a physically grueling, overtime battle against the Knicks to close the regular season, DeRozan couldn’t come up with a single complaint about his minutes count. If he had his way, he’d play more. “I love it. I want to play,” DeRozan said. “I tell Billy all the time, ‘Don’t take me out. I want to play.’ I want to be out there with the guys. I want to feel that challenge. Especially when you realize I’m not going to play for another 15 years, another 10 years. So while I’m here, I’m going to give it everything I’ve got. I don’t want to shortchange anybody: myself, my teammates, people who come to see me. “I just want to be out there and play as much as I can. And I’m going to take care of myself as best as I can so I can do that.” -via The Athletic / April 14, 2024

Who’s your pick for Most Improved Player? Herring: OKC’s Jalen Williams. He has gotten so much better — both in terms of his scoring and passing — and his efficiency has skyrocketed. And no, he’s not someone who merely eats off the attention that MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Rookie of the Year hopeful Chet Holmgren receive. Williams hit a winning jumper against the Portland Trail Blazers and has the best field goal percentage in clutch scenarios (69.2%, or 27-for-39) of anyone who’s taken at least 25 attempts. And he’s put up historically efficient numbers in his midrange, off-the-dribble looks — ones that have made OKC’s offense even more unguardable. Lopez: I was all set to make an argument for Chicago Bulls’ guard Coby White (career highs in scoring, rebounding and assists per game) or even New Orleans Pelicans’ All-Defensive candidate Herb Jones (whose shooting has improved dramatically this season) but that was before I watched Tyrese Maxey put up his third 50-point game of the season on Sunday. He truly has improved into one of the best scorers in the league. At 25.9 points per game, he’s 12th in the league in scoring (among qualified players) while also picking up the added burden of carrying the Sixers’ offense when Joel Embiid was out. -via ESPN / April 12, 2024

Most point guards who are as skilled with the basketball as Brunson is don’t adopt this style. Many of the best grow up annihilating lesser talent, a trend that can continue into college and, if the player is great enough, to the pros. In those cases, there may not be any urgency to learn how to wreak havoc running around screens. “A lot of guys of his stature that always have the ball, for him to be able to relocate and move without the ball it just shows his high IQ for the game,” Bulls guard Coby White said. “He gets himself easy opportunities, like catch-and-shoot 3s.” -via The Athletic / April 10, 2024

On a night when electric Knicks guard Jalen Brunson poured in 45 points on 13-for-24 shooting, the Bulls’ defense couldn’t afford such careless blunders from their offense. Their errors, however, extended well beyond the offensive end. “We did some really dumb stuff tonight,” White said. “Everybody, not just T. Craig. So we’re not going to sit here and single him out. We’re a team.” Donovan ran down a list of other detrimental plays he said weren’t quite as “loud.” There was a halftime buzzer-beater by Knicks guard Donte DiVincenzo that followed a defensive lapse and negated a White steal and 3-pointer on the previous sequence. There were several back cuts the Bulls got beat on in the opening quarter. And Donovan pointed to unnecessary fouling that put Brunson and the Knicks on the free-throw line, where they converted 19 of 20. -via The Athletic / April 10, 2024