Column: Chicago Bulls rebuild won’t be easy, but Bryson Graham’s openness and humility are signs of a new era

“Watching the Bulls and what they displayed, that’s what I wanted. … That grit started from watching this, and I want to bring that back. There’s a kid out there just like me that can be inspired by this organization and keep climbing, and that’s what we’re going to do — pull our sleeves up and get to work and we’re going to get out (of) the mud.”

Reinsdorf wouldn’t use a metaphor as perfect as being in “the mud,” but he did concede the Bulls need “to be relevant again.” He issued an apology to fans, saying he needed “to say I’m sorry” for the poor showings of the last few years.

“It’s not something I’m proud of, and it’s something I want to get right,” he said. “Ultimately it flows up to me, and I take responsibility. I do feel today is a step in the right direction.”

It did feel like a new era, and there was even some applause from the back of the room at the start of the news conference, which normally is not condoned at media gatherings.

But the guy leading the applause was Bulls forward Matas Buzelis, who was working out and watching along with teammate Tre Jones.

“Matas, was that for me?” Reinsdorf asked facetiously.

I later tried to explain the “no cheering in the press box” edict to Buzelis, but he was having none of it.

“I’ve got to introduce the new guy and (say) congratulations!” he said.

So what does this hiring mean for the Bulls?

“It means great things are coming,” Buzelis said before bouncing off like a pinball machine on tilt.

Bulls Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf wasn’t in the building, making this Michael’s production. It was another step in the right direction, and hopefully Michael remains as open and available as he has been the last month. Bulls fans deserve to hear what ownership is thinking, even if Jerry remains a Sphinx with the White Sox.

Michael said he wanted someone with strong communication skills, and Graham seemed to ace that test, being honest about the state of the team, the long process ahead and the need to rebuild with the right kind of players. He used the acronym SLAP: size, length, athleticism and physicality.

Graham also said they would emphasize defense, which has been the calling card of the greatest Bulls teams since the 1960s and of their most popular players, from Norm Van Lier and Jerry Sloan to Jordan and Scottie Pippen to Alex Caruso. Graham said he and Reinsdorf talked “about the importance of defense and establishing an identity on that side of the floor.”

“Especially when you’re a younger team and you have younger players,” he continued. “When you compete on the defensive end, your team typically plays harder, and you’re starting to see a lot of it in the playoffs. We obviously want two-way players, but I want guys with SLAP … and that physicality is going to be felt on the defensive side of the ball.”

Of course, it’s easy to say these things at your first news conference and much more difficult to implement change in a time frame that won’t test the patience of Bulls fans, who have endured mediocrity or worse for most of this century.

“Thoughtful, disciplined, measured, intentional, communicates with clarity and conviction and elite talent evaluator” were among the traits Reinsdorf pointed to when he made the decision.

“Bryson gets it,” he said. “And part of his success is that people trust him. They know that he’s genuine, they know that he’s prepared and they know he is a thoughtful person. … He’s a ‘listen-first’ person.”

Reinsdorf said Graham having started as an intern in New Orleans, cleaning up the practice area, was an indication he would take no shortcuts. Graham said he keeps a photo on his phone of him unloading boxes on his first day of work, reminding him “who I am” and what it takes to pursue your dreams.

He’s at the top now but knows it will take the same work ethic to succeed. Tiffany said he won’t sleep until the job is done. She met Bryson in middle school in San Antonio, and they started dating after he finished college at Texas A&M. They’ve been married for 12 years and have three young children.

“He’s going to connect with you guys for sure,” Tiffany said. “Our family is a connector of people. We believe in relationships, we believe in healthy relationships. We believe in healthy families and a healthy culture. My family, his and mine, we have a really large family and we all grew up together. My brother was best friends with his brother, my mom was good friends with his mom. It was just meant to be.”

Bryson was a video coordinator in New Orleans when the two started getting serious, and they married four years later. Did she know back then he would be running a franchise one day?

“Not this,” she said with a laugh. “Not the Bulls. I always believed he could run a team. I’ve always believed in him, and I’ve prayed many, many, many years for this opportunity to come about. We both knew he just needed an opportunity for the door to open.

“In a position like this, you are worried about the first-timers, but everybody is a first-timer at some point. He just needed a shot. He does not like to disappoint, and he wants to make other people look good. He’s very humble in that way, and it’s true what he said (at the news conference) that this is a collaboration.

“If he wins, everybody is winning with him. It’s not just his name in the pot.”