Taj Gibson announced his retirement Monday, and by the time the news had finished circulating he already had a new job with the team that drafted him.
Gibson, 41, posted the announcement on social media. Within minutes, Shams Charania and Michael Scotto reported he was joining new Bulls head coach Tiago Splitter’s staff as an assistant. Chicago made it official with a press release that evening.
Ian Begley of SNY had reported earlier that the Bulls held strong interest in hiring Gibson if he retired. They did not waste time.
Seventeen years, 1,012 games
The career numbers are not going to get anyone into Springfield, and that is fine. What Gibson built was a different kind of resume.
He played 1,012 regular season games with 462 starts, averaging 8.3 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.0 blocks in 22.9 minutes, shooting 51.7 percent from the field.
The Bulls took him 26th overall in 2009 out of USC. He spent seven and a half seasons in Chicago, was traded to Oklahoma City in February 2017, then signed with Minnesota, then the Knicks in 2019, with later stops in Washington, Detroit and Charlotte. He finished last season with Memphis, was moved to New Orleans in a four-player deal, and was waived.
Seventeen seasons as a 6-foot-9 power forward who never averaged double figures for a full decade. That happens because coaches trust you and teammates want you around.
What he said
“Today is a very emotional day for me,” Gibson wrote. “After 17 seasons in the NBA, I can honestly say I gave this game everything I had.”
He continued: “Basketball gave me the opportunity to live a dream. As a kid from Brooklyn, NY, I was lucky to get a chance to display my talent on the biggest stage. From Fort Greene Projects to USC, to the Chicago Bulls, and every team and city that came after, I’m grateful for every moment, every teammate, every coach, and every person who believed in me.”
And the closer: “After 31 years of basketball, I can walk away with no regrets, knowing I left everything on the floor.”
The staff around Splitter
Chicago finalized the rest of the bench the same night, and one name jumps out.
Wes Unseld Jr. is back for a third season as a Bulls assistant. He interviewed for the head coaching job this spring and did not get it. Retaining the internal candidate you passed over is either a sign of a healthy organization or a subplot waiting to happen.
The rest: Rex Kalamian, most recently with Milwaukee under Doc Rivers; Jamelle McMillan, son of Nate McMillan, after three years with the Motor City Cruise; Jonah Herscu, who was with Splitter in Portland and coached the Rip City Remix; Blake Ahearn, a Spurs G League coach from 2017 to 2020 and a Grizzlies assistant under Taylor Jenkins from 2020 to 2024; and former Knicks assistant Jordan Brink, who also takes the title of director of player development.
Brink is an interesting hire. He was largely responsible for New York’s coaches’ challenges and got credit for the league-best challenge success rate in 2024-25. That is a real, measurable edge that most fans never think about.
Splitter is a first-time NBA head coach. Handing him a 17-year locker room veteran who bled for this franchise is the kind of move that pays off in February.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.