The Bulls on Friday "returned their practices to Chicago" with a "ribbon cutting ceremony at their new training facility in the shadow of the United Center," according to John Byrne of the CHICAGO TRIBUNE. The move to the Advocate Center comes as the Madison Street corridor west of downtown "continues its gentrification." Bulls Exec VP/Basketball Operations John Paxson said that it also "reflects the desire of many players to live in Chicago and have easy commutes to practices and home games." Bulls Chair Jerry Reinsdorf said that he "thought the team would stay in the North Shore when it decided to build a new practice facility until Mayor Rahm Emanuel leaned on him to come back into the city." Reinsdorf: "We had a new mayor at that time, and he suggested rather strongly that the Chicago Bulls ought to be in Chicago, so it seemed to make sense" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 9/13). In Chicago, Joe Cowley wrote the 60,000-square-foot, "state-of-the-art" practice facility will be the "model for the rest of the NBA to emulate." The Bulls went "above and beyond, and it all was on display Friday at the opening." The player lounge "looks more like a spa, equipped with an eating bar operated by the team’s chefs, and the training room has multiple pools and multiple televisions on the walls (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 9/13).
