With a list of the “Who’s who” of Illinois Basketball on their current roster, the Chicago Bulls featured several players from the area on NBA Media Day.
Those players who proudly suited up to represent their hometown team on NBA Media Day included Jevon Carter (Proviso East), Ayo Dosunmu (Morgan Park), EJ Liddell (Belleville), Matas Buzelis (Hinsdale Central) and DJ Steward (Whitney Young).
JEVON CARTER:
In an effort to improve their defensive presence on the perimeter and the team’s overall point guard play on the floor, the Chicago Bulls signed lock down defender Jevon Carter last summer to sure up their defense.
Born on the west side of Chicago and a native of Maywood, IL, Carter said his three main goals for the team last year was to make the playoffs, win the division and win a championship. But with injuries throughout the season, Carter’s dreams of leading his hometown team to a NBA Championship was hampered.
“Honestly, it’s just a dream come true,” said Carter in a past interview with the Crusader. “I can’t wait to get on the floor and give my effort and play for my city.”
AYO DOSUNMU:
Dosunmu, like Carter, is a Chicago product as well. He played in the 2022 NBA All-Star Rising Stars game, representing his hometown team, the Chicago Bulls.
The former Morgan Park High School standout is currently earning his stripes in the NBA. Since winning a state title with the Morgan Park Mustangs back in 2018, Dosunmu has had his jersey retired by the University of Illinois Fighting Illini (2022), been named USA Today National Player of the Year (2021), and a unanimous First-team All-American (2021), a Bob Cousy Award winner (2021), a Big Ten Tournament MOP (2021) and a 2× First-team All-Big Ten – Media team member (2020, 2021).
EJ LIDDELL:
Liddell, like Dosunmu, was crowned a state champion as well. In fact, Liddell was raised in Belleville, Illinois, and went to high school at Belleville High School-West. He averaged 20.8 points and 8.2 rebounds per game as a junior, won the 2018 Illinois Mr. Basketball award, shared the 2018 St. Louis Post Dispatch Player of the Year with Courtney Ramey, and won the Illinois 4A class state championship.
As a senior, he averaged 20.2 points, 9.3 rebounds and 3.8 blocks per game. For the second year in a row, he won Illinois Mr. Basketball, the St. Louis Post Dispatch Player of the Year, and the Illinois 4A class state championship.
MATAS BUZELIS:
With the 11th pick of the 2024 NBA Draft, the Chicago Bulls selected Matas Buzelis from the NBA G League Unite team during the off season.
A product of Hinsdale, Illinois, Buzelis initially attended Hinsdale Central High School and played on their sophomore team as a freshman.
The Lithuanian forward transferred to Brewster Academy, a boarding school in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, midway through the start of the first semester of his sophomore year after Hinsdale Central’s basketball season was postponed due to concerns related to the pandemic, according to his bio.
As a junior, Buzelis was named the New Hampshire Gatorade Player of the Year after averaging 11.4 points, 5.9 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.3 blocks, and 1.2 steals per game. He was also selected to play for Team World in the 2022 Nike Hoops Summit.
Buzelis transferred to Sunrise Christian Academy in Bel Aire, Kansas before the start of his senior year. During his senior year, he averaged 15.7 points and 5.6 rebounds per game while shooting 54 percent from the field, 42.4 percent from 3-point range and 80 percent from the free throw line. He is also the fellow countryman of Bulls Vice President of Basketball Operations Arturas Karnisovas.
DJ STEWARD:
The Chicago Bulls signed guard DJ Steward to a two-way contract this summer.
According to the Bulls, Steward, 6-2, 162 pounds, appeared in 32 games (five starts) with the Maine Celtics, the Boston Celtics G League Affiliate, in 2023-24 – averaging 19.3 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 0.8 steals in 29.7 minutes.
The Bulls said Steward tallied 18 games with 20-plus points and scored 30 or more points on two occasions a season ago, alongside three double-doubles. He was one of six G League players in 2023-24 to average at least 19.0 points per game across 30 or more games played.
The Chicago native was named G League Player of the Week for games played from March 11-17, 2024 – posting averages of 27.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 1.3 steals per game during that span, which was a part of a nine-game, 20-plus point scoring streak (2/25/24-3/21/24).
This marked the longest such streak of his G League career. Prior to joining the Chicago Bulls, Steward held career G League averages of 15.5 points, 3.9 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 0.9 steals in 27.2 minutes through 90 games (26 starts), between tenures with the Maine Celtics (2023-24) and Stockton Kings (2021-22).
Steward appeared in 24 games (22 starts) during his college career at Duke, averaging 13.0 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.1 steals across 30.8 minutes in his lone season with the team (2020-21). He was named to the 2020-21 ACC All-Freshman Team after leading all ACC freshmen in scoring averages (13.0).
Steward attended high school at Whitney Young in Chicago and was named a 2020 McDonald’s All-American, added the Bulls.
(Information courtesy of the Chicago Bulls, Chicago Crusader and Jevon Carter, Ayo Dosunmu, EJ Liddell, and Matas Buzelis bio).
Photo credit: Marcus Robinson
Joseph Phillips is the Sports Editor for the Chicago Crusader Newspaper. He is a Chicago native, who has been a sports writer for over 17 years. He also hosts the SC Media News and Sports Network Q&A radio show on WHPK 88.5 FM Chicago.