Caleb Wilson has eyes set on being ‘better than Mike’ with Chicago Bulls

The question was inevitable.

After the Chicago Bulls selected Caleb Wilson with the No. 4 pick in the NBA Draft Tuesday, he became the first UNC player picked by the Bulls in the top five since 1984. The last player, Michael Jordan, carries a resume so distinguished that it hardly needs to be rehashed.

Naturally, a reporter had to find out what Wilson thought of the parallels.

“Are there some shoes to fill with that?” the reporter asked.

As Wilson heard the question, he nodded along, taking it seriously. Before responding, he put his head down and released a brief chuckle, seemingly acknowledging the magnitude of the topic.

But Wilson didn’t shy away.

“I’m writing my own story, honestly,” Wilson said. “I want to be better than Mike.”

Jordan — who won six NBA Championships, all of which he won Finals MVP, five regular-season MVPs and was a 10-time scoring champion — is perhaps a player no young NBA talent should compare themselves to, especially not before playing a single professional minute.

But Wilson, who averaged 19.8 points, 9.4 rebounds and 1.5 steals in 24 games as a freshman, didn’t brush off the question. He is “hungry” to succeed and seems to view Jordan’s legacy as the bar to clear to realize his limitless potential.

“I’m always going to do everything it takes to get better,” Wilson said. “I want to be the greatest player of all time.”

Standout freshman season at UNC

Wilson’s only season at UNC was perhaps as meritorious as any Tar Heel freshman ever, as he finished as a second-team All-American and first-team All-ACC player. Only two other first-years, Antawn Jamison and Tyler Hansbrough, have ever accomplished the latter.

Wilson arrives in Chicago, providing hope amid a multi-year rebuild. The Bulls finished 12th in the Eastern Conference last season, but lucked into a top-four pick despite just over 20% odds to do so in the NBA Draft lottery.

Matas Buzelis and Josh Giddey are notable parts of the Bulls’ young core, but Wilson is already being billed as a franchise cornerstone. The local newspapers, the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times, both gave Wilson the star treatment with large photos on their sports section covers after the draft.

NBA Draft experts laud Wilson’s ceiling. The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie wrote that the 6-foot-9 forward has “huge upside” because of his “blend of power, explosiveness and coordination” in a scouting report. The 19-year-old Atlanta native has room to grow skill-wise and from beyond the 3-point line, Vecenie also wrote, but his potential is “remarkably high.”

The Bulls have made the playoffs just once in the last nine seasons, and last made the NBA Finals in 1998. Having recently brought in coach Tiago Splitter and executive vice president of basketball operations Bryson Graham, the organization is trying to remedy its recent failures.

“Excited about (Wilson) being a part of this organization,” Graham said, “helping build out this culture and really reestablishing our identity as a team.”

Bulls fans have high expectations, with their team playing in the third-largest market and having the fourth-most league championships. Jordan ushered in those assumptions, winning all the team’s Larry O’Brien trophies in the ’90s

Wilson is arriving to fulfill them, and he is confident that he’s ready, coming from a school that has won six men’s basketball NCAA championships.

“I always wanted to play for a franchise in college,” Wilson said, “and luckily, I am in the NBA with a great fan base in a storied program.”

An inspired Wilson

Wilson does the little things that often become part of the folklore of all-time greats, beloved by fans. He keeps a list of players he wants to beat on his phone and he constantly changes his phone wallpaper to motivate himself.

Media personalities gush about Wilson’s interview personality and draft experts rave about his dreamlike athleticism. Last season’s UNC coach, Hubert Davis, loved Wilson’s work ethic.

Wilson would take his own initiative with film work, Davis said, scouting opponents earlier and more often than coaches mandated.

Leaning on his grit, Wilson announced his arrival to college basketball early, scoring 24 points in an 87-74 win over Kansas on November 7.

“People telling me I’m not a top-three freshman in the ACC,” Wilson said in a viral clip captured by CarolinaBlitz, “so I’m just going to keep going out here and killing people.”

Wilson went on to score double-digit points in every game he played after beating the Jayhawks, led by Tuesday’s No. 2 pick, Darryn Peterson. He scored 23 points in UNC’s 71-68 comeback win over Duke at the Smith Center on Feb. 7, memorable due to Seth Trimble’s game-winning 3-pointer.

But Wilson left UNC unsatisfied after he missed the final nine games of the Tar Heels’ season with two different hand injuries.

Wilson was supposed to deliver joy to Chapel Hill with a regular-season-closing win over Duke, a string of wins in the ACC Tournament, and a run in the NCAA Tournament.

Instead, UNC lost to rival Duke, to Clemson in the ACC Tournament and then to VCU in the NCAA Tournament.

Wilson couldn’t play in any of the contests.

Before the draft, Wilson told ESPN’s Malika Andrews that he had a photo of himself walking into the Duke loss at Cameron Indoor Stadium on his phone background. He often looked at it when he was tired before a workout to remember how badly he wanted to play that evening.

“This guy right here would’ve died to play,” Wilson said in the interview.

Fully healthy and ready to go with the Bulls

When it was all said and done, and Wilson had time to reflect, he told ESPN after his selection that it all happened for a reason. The way it all played out, he ended up as a top-five draft pick.

There are no lingering concerns with Wilson’s injuries, he said. Meanwhile, he’s working to ensure he doesn’t have to suffer through watching his team lose its final three games of the season.

“I feel great,” Wilson said. “Better than ever. Been working on my hand strength, so I never have to go to something like that again. It’s crazy times, but I feel great. I’m excited to play.”

Wilson knows he will have a lot to learn in the NBA, but he also said he expects to be an impact player immediately. He’s already talked with Charlotte Hornets guard Coby White, a former Bulls draftee and Tar Heels standout, about Chicago fans and feels ready to meet their expectations.

Perhaps his personal goals exceed those, anyway.

All Wilson said he needs to do now is grab a few puffer jackets and thermals for the winter and get back to work, as he always does.

He has big shoes to fill.

“I’m just going to go hard, man,” Wilson said. “I’m going to make it happen, whatever they need me to do, I’m going to do it, and more.”

This story was originally published June 26, 2026 at 5:30 AM with the headline "Caleb Wilson has eyes set on being ‘better than Mike’ with Chicago Bulls."