© David Banks-USA TODAY Sports
Bulls Campaign for Former UNC Basketball Star to Win Major Award
UNC basketball product Coby White has bounced back from last season and is garnering support to become the NBA Most Improved Player.
Expectations were high for Coby White when he was selected with the No. 7 overall selection back in the 2019 NBA Draft. But at this point last year, it would have been safe to say the former UNC basketball standout had struggled to meet them.
Despite seemingly taking a big step during his sophomore season by averaging 15.1 points and 4.8 assists per game, his averages took a dip over the following two seasons. That culminated in the 24-year-old playing a career-low 23.4 minutes per game last season.
With his role on the Bulls in question entering this season, White has answered all the questions with the best campaign of his young career. The fifth-year pro is recording career-highs of 18.9 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 5.1 assists per game while playing the fourth-most minutes of any player in the entire league.
He also sits just one triple shy of tying the Bulls franchise record for 3-pointers made in a single season, a record set by teammate Zach Lavine with 204 triples just last season.
White's jump in scoring average from last season ranks second in the league, with his jump from 9.7 to 18.9 points per game just over a point shy of the Atlanta Hawks’ Jalen Johnson jumping from 5.6 to 16.1 points per game.
The NBA Tar Heel's standout season isn’t going unnoticed either. The Bulls social media pages have been hot on the campaign trail, pushing White as a true contender to win the NBA Most Improved Player Award over players like Johnson, Tyrese Maxey, and Jalen Williams.
It isn’t just the Bulls campaigning for White to win the award, as other NBA pros have been speaking out on the former UNC standout’s behalf.
Just this week, Los Angeles Clippers forward Paul George spoke in favor of White winning the award on his podcast, while Golden State Warriors veteran and White’s mentor Chris Paul vouched for the 6-foot-5 guard in comments made last week.
Those high-level endorsements are coming at the right time for White, whose recent stretch of great play experienced a dip due to a nagging ankle injury.
Prior to injuring the ankle that limited him to just 14 minutes in Friday’s victory over the Orlando Magic, White had scored in double figures in every game since the middle of November.
Although he’s battling his ankle injury as well as a sore hip, White will look to get healthy and help push Chicago into the playoffs, with the Bulls currently the No. 9 seed in the Eastern Conference and having clinched a Play-In Tournament berth.
White’s next opportunity to make a case to secure the major honor will come when the Bulls battle with the New York Knicks in Chicago at 8 p.m. ET Tuesday.
Stay tuned to All Tar Heels on SI for more updates on NBA Tar Heels and other UNC basketball news.
