CLEVELAND — With the Chicago Bulls on the road, trailing by 3 inside the final five seconds against the red-hot Cleveland Cavaliers, Billy Donovan drew up one last play.
The game’s most critical possession called for a few quick-hitting options. But this time the first choice for the Bulls’ final shot was the team’s emerging fifth-year point guard rather than its established, six-time All-Star.
“And I put him in the first option on purpose,” the Bulls coach said.
Coby White could have lifted the Bulls to their most defiant win this season, a feel-good victory before disappearing for the All-Star break. He got the chance some had been calling for him to receive. More than that, White got a good look.
After curling off of DeMar DeRozan and catching a dribble-handoff from Nikola Vučević, White fired a 28-footer over the outstretched arm of Cavs big man Evan Mobley. But his shot bounced high off the back rim as time expired, sealing a 108-105 Bulls loss Wednesday inside Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
Had the Bulls trailed by 2, maybe Donovan would have gone to DeRozan as he typically does. He remains the team’s undisputed closer. But given the situation, it only made sense for the Bulls to call on their biggest 3-point threat. That gave White a rare turn as “The Man.”
The result, another competitive loss, shouldn’t overshadow the experience White received Wednesday. His development has been one of the few bright spots in another run-of-the-mill Bulls season. It’s opportunities like these that will groom him for new heights.
Coby White kicking himself after a costly turnover late in the loss at Cleveland. pic.twitter.com/PDhyhqlgeX
— Darnell Mayberry (@DarnellMayberry) February 15, 2024
“It means a lot that coach trusts me,” White said. “It means a lot that my teammates trust me. Obviously, I’m pretty pissed I didn’t make the shot. But it’s learning moments. I’ve just got to continue to learn from it. Just looking back and reflecting on this year and the past years, the steps that I’ve made to be able to be trusted in those moments is huge for me.”
White has earned every chance he gets, as Wednesday showed once again. He scored 23 of his game-high 32 points in the second half. He crafted another efficient night, making 11 of 17 shots, including 5 of 8 3-pointers while going 5-for-6 from the free-throw line. He did it while logging 39 minutes, which ties him with DeRozan for the league lead at the All-Star break.
“I thought Coby had an exceptional second half,” Donovan said. “I thought he was great, especially with the way they were playing him defensively. They put (Isaac) Okoro on him and they were really physical. He was trying to find his spot and find a little bit of a rhythm. But I give him credit, he really course-corrected at the half and came out and played a great game. But at the end, there’s these little things there. Some of these guys are going to have to go through it. And I think it was good that some of those guys were in that situation.”
Donovan has long said the Bulls can’t be reliant on DeRozan, Vučević and, when healthy, Zach LaVine. Wednesday was perhaps the first time Donovan has drawn up a last-second shot for someone else. To be fair, only now is someone else clearly deserving.
“DeMar’s been great,” Donovan said. “He’s an unbelievable closer. But there’s going to be times they’re going to double-team him. There’s going to be times they’re going to trap him. There’s going to be some times they may put a lot of length and size (on him). They may deny him. And he’s not always going to be the guy that saves the day. We’re going to have to have different guys step up in different moments. So I’ve got a lot of confidence in Coby and a lot of belief in Coby, and I think he needs to be in those.”
White agreed and is ready for more opportunities whenever they come his way.
“My perspective is nothing can prepare you for it,” White said. “Only thing that can really prepare you for it is going through it. So I’m just happy I’m able to go through it in the best league in the world, and my teammates and my coaching staff trust me in those moments.”
It wasn’t just the final shot that White will learn from.
One month after committing a season-high seven turnovers in this same building, White had a costly giveaway with 17 seconds remaining and the Bulls down 1. He dribbled around a Vučević screen, slithered into the painted area and flipped an over-the-head pass back to Vučević. The pass was a little high. The ball sailed through Vučević’s hands.
“I was sped up in the moment,” White said. “If I slow down, I think I can make the right read. I thought Vooch was going to pop to the 3. But he made the right play by coming in because I had took on Mobley. I knew he was going to be hard to finish over. So I think if I put the pass on the money, he’s got a layup, or he’s got one of his little floaters that (are) automatic. So I feel like in those moments, I just have to slow down a little bit more and just make the right read. I think my intentions were right finding Vooch because he was open. I took (Darius) Garland and Mobley. I just got to make the pass. I’ve got to slow down. I feel like I was too frantic.”
Shortly after the game, White rewatched both plays, his final miss and turnover, multiple times with DeRozan and a video coordinator. The two players were still in uniform.
“Tonight’s loss,” White said, “I feel like those moments defined the game.”
Donovan has faith White won’t let them define him.
“I know him,” Donovan said. “He’s going to learn from that and grow from it and he’s going to get better from it. It’s good that he was in that situation.”
White called it new territory.
“The moments I’ve had this year are probably the first time I’ve been trusted in those type of moments,” White said. “For me to take steps in the right direction to becoming the player I want to become in this league, I need those moments. So it’s all a part of the learning process. It’s all a part of the journey.”
(Photo of Coby White and Darius Garland: Ken Blaze / USA Today)
