The Bulls' Coby White talks dunking and why he doesn't do it more often

Zach LaVine was having fun with it.

While the media was starting to gather around Coby White’s locker following Monday’s win over the Spurs, LaVine was still breaking down the Bulls’ dunk of the year 30 minutes earlier.

“Two,” LaVine said, holding up two fingers playfully off to the side of White.

Sure, White’s poster dunk on shot-blocker extraordinaire Victor Wembanyama was only worth two points, but that’s not what the two fingers were held up for. It was just White’s second dunk of the season.

And what a two they have been.

There was a nasty slam last week in Charlotte, as White punched one over 7-footer Mark Williams in the fourth quarter of a close game. And then there was the Wemby dunk. A violent one-hander on the 7-3 Wembanyama, and again with the game hanging in the balance.

So why is the 6-5 White not putting more opposing players on posters, especially this season? It’s all in the legs.

“Nah,” White said with a laugh when asked if he’s saving these dunks. “You see the pace we’re playing at? I get tired. For real. I get tired.”

The combo guard from North Carolina did have a point, especially considering the Bulls entered Wednesday’s game third in the NBA in pacing (104.52), only behind Memphis and Atlanta. The big difference is Memphis and Atlanta aren’t exactly strangers to hitting the turbo button up and down the floor. The Hawks were sixth in pacing last season, and after a slower style of play to start the year, Memphis actually turned up the velocity in the second half, finishing 17^th.

Billy Donovan’s Bulls last year?

How about 28^th, finishing with a pace of 96.94 possessions per game.

So for White it’s not about can’t when it comes to dunking, it’s about capturing the moment.

“Two points is two points,” White said. “The one in Charlotte and Mark Williams had like (three) blocks that game. If I don’t dunk it, maybe he’s going to block it. And then (against Wembanyama), same thing, ‘If I don’t dunk it …’ And both came in a crucial part of the game.

“For me, I don’t got the effortless bounce like Zach, Julian (Phillips), Pat (Williams), those types of guys. I got power, but I gotta jump.”

Then White pointed to his arms, reminding everyone that he doesn’t have the wingspan of many great dunkers.

“See these arms,” White continued, “I don’t have the wingspan. I gotta jump, I actually gotta jump.”

And while most of the Bulls locker room felt that was the best career dunk from White, he quickly dismissed that.

“Nah, I think the best one was probably last year,” White said, referring to the play-in game against Atlanta at the United Center. “I think that was the loudest the United Center’s ever been since I got here.”

It just so happened that White also finished with 42 points in the win, so he did a lot of things well in that game.

A dunk contest in his future?

“Never,” White said, without hesitation.

But almost loss in all the dunk talk was something important that White mentioned and was hoping would be the case moving forward. The style of play the Bulls are now displaying offensively leads to a lot of good things. Dunks, three-pointers and an up-tempo game that White still believes could be an attractive recruiting piece if and when the Bulls are looking to add anytime soon.

“I think any basketball player would want to play in this system,” White said. “Who doesn’t want to play fast, get up and down, get open shots, be able to attack in transition, and then have the freedom to make plays offensively where everybody gets the ball and has opportunities?”

And dunk of course.