(670 The Score) Some people are the kind who look at 10,400 people sitting in a basketball arena and see it as half-empty, while the more positive thinkers will describe it as half-full.
That was the actual number of attendees at the Bulls game at the United Center on Monday night, a piece of information provided by sources to 670 The Score. The announced paid total of 14,775 was alarming enough already, because it came on the heels of a previous season-low of 15,017 against the Grizzlies last Wednesday and was the smallest crowd at a Bulls home game since Dec. 16, 2004.
The Bulls are now 8-17 in a season in which they declared publicly an organizational intent to contend for a playoff spot, with team president Michael Reinsdorf saying on 670 the Score in May that he thought they "were really set up."
"You're going to see the next step next year and a big jump," Reinsdorf said.
And executive vice president of basketball operations John Paxson was more specific on media day in September.
"First and foremost, we want to compete at a high, high level," he said. "We think we can compete. And when you compete at a high level, you have an ability to be a playoff-caliber team. And we set that as a goal."
The Bulls are 4-9 at the United Center after going 9-32 there last season. Their average of 18,746 fans places them 10th in the NBA in total attendance and their average capacity of 89.6% ranks 23rd, which wouldn't be notable for most franchises.
It is, for the Bulls.
Since 2005, they've finished no lower than second in any season, a decade-and-a-half of crowd-size dominance that included 10 seasons finishing tops in the league, with a run of nine straight from 2010 through 2018.
What's more, if the Bulls' current average of 18,746 merely holds there for the remainder of the season, it would mark their lowest rate since averaging 18,532 in 1993-'94. That season was the one immediately after Michael Jordan's first retirement, with a roster that included three current team-affiliated broadcasters, a former Bulls head coach, a current NBA coach with three of his own championships and an aforementioned NBA executive.
It also took place in cozy Chicago Stadium, the season before the Bulls moved into the United Center. This would be the lowest total ever in this building, with more people (18,934 to be exact) even wanting to consume the 2001-'02 squad that went 21-61 under Tim Floyd and featured Dalibor Bagaric, Eddie Robinson and Fred Hoiberg.
Team revenue isn't a function of attendance as it once was, certainly, but a business has to take notice when customers aren't coming through the doors.
Dan Bernstein is a co-host of 670 The Score's Bernstein & McKnight Show in midday. You can follow him on Twitter @Dan_Bernstein.
