Kirk Hinrich holds Bulls’ records; Where is he now?
CHICAGO (BVM) – Kirk Hinrich, famously nicknamed “Captain Kirk,” is one of the most overlooked contributors in Chicago Bulls history. While Michael Jordan’s name is unsurprisingly atop nearly every statistical category in franchise history, Hinrich is the Bulls’ all-time leader in one of the sport’s most important categories.
Captain Kirk deserves a look back at what was an impressive college and NBA career.
Kirk Hinrich’s early life
Born in Sioux City, Iowa to a father who played college basketball and coached it at the high school level, Hinrich was involved in the sport at a young age. With his father coaching him from third grade through high school, Hinrich led Sioux City West High School to an 82-9 record over four years, including a state championship as a senior.
He was named the 1999 Co-Iowa Mr. Basketball – along with future college teammate and roommate Nick Collison – and graduated as Sioux City West High School’s all-time leader in points, steals and assists.
Hinrich was originally committed to play basketball close to home at Iowa State, but when the Cyclones’ coach, Tim Floyd, accepted the head coaching position in the NBA with the Chicago Bulls, the point guard settled on the University of Kansas.
Kirk Hinrich’s college career at Kansas
Hinrich hit the ground running as a freshman at Kansas, tallying 123 assists and receiving the Clyde Lovellette Most Improved Player Award after his first season in Lawrence. His 6.9 assists per game ranked eighth in the nation as a sophomore and his .505 3-point shooting percentage that season set a Jayhawks’ record.
In his fourth and final season at Kansas, Hinrich and Collison led the Jayhawks to the Final Four where they would lose to Carmelo Anthony and the Syracuse Orange. Hinrich was named the Midwest Region’s Most Outstanding Player despite the title-game loss and his averages of 17.3 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists earned him third-team All-American recognition by the AP.
On March 1, 2009, Hinrich’s No. 10 jersey was retired by Kansas and raised to the rafters of Allen Fieldhouse. It was just the 25th jersey retired by the Jayhawks as Hinrich joined the likes of Wilt Chamberlain, Paul Pierce and other greats.
Roll the tape 🎥
𝗢𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗮 𝗝𝗮𝘆𝗵𝗮𝘄𝗸, 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗮 𝗝𝗮𝘆𝗵𝗮𝘄𝗸 // Featuring Kirk Hinrich pic.twitter.com/XLujKJ5F72
— Kansas Men’s Basketball (@KUHoops) December 2, 2021
Kirk Hinrich’s NBA career
Hinrich was selected No. 7 overall in the 2003 NBA Draft by the Chicago Bulls which surprised many who thought the former Jayhawk was a mid to late first-round draft pick. Part of the reason for the selection was the Bulls’ need for a point guard after Jay Williams – who Chicago drafted with the second overall pick the year prior – was severely injured in a motorcycle accident.
After suffering an acute viral infection that required months to fully recover early on in his rookie season, Hinrich quickly solidified his spot as the Bulls’ starting point guard. He was named to the NBA’s “Got Milk? All-Rookie First Team” alongside Dwayne Wade, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Bosh while being awarded the Bulls’ MVP Award for the 2003-04 season.
Hinrich returned as the team’s starting point guard the next season but the Bulls got off to an ugly, 0-9 start. This prompted Hinrich’s move to the starting shooting guard spot with Ben Gordon moving to the sixth-man role while Chris Duhon entered the starting lineup at point guard. The shuffling paid off as Chicago finished the season 47-35 and became the first ever team to start off 0-9 and reach the playoffs. The Bulls earned the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference and after going up 2-0 over the Washington Wizards in the first round, they lost the next four and were eliminated in six games.
Hinrich averaged a career-high 15.9 points and team-high 6.4 assists in his third NBA season as the Bulls earned the seventh seed before running into the eventual champions, the Miami Heat, in the first round. He received a multi-year contract extension during the season and would get payback on the Heat the following year.
Chicago swept Miami in the first round of the 2006-07 playoffs before being eliminated in six games by the Detroit Pistons, but Hinrich was named to the NBA’s All-Defensive second team. The Bulls would miss the playoffs after a dismal 33-49 finish the next season which led to the franchise winning the draft lottery and ending up with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft.
The arrival of Derrick Rose relegated Hinrich to a backup point guard role for the 2008-09 season. Injuries held the veteran to just 51 games played on the season as the Bulls lost a thrilling seven-game series to the Boston Celtics in the first round of the NBA Playoffs.
Hinrich underwent a bit of a renaissance the next season and set a franchise record in the process.
CAPTAIN KIRK.
OTD in 2009, Kirk Hinrich dropped 31 off the bench in a win over Milwaukee. pic.twitter.com/U8CucmBxFy
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) February 19, 2020
On Feb. 20, 2010 during a game against the Philadelphia 76ers, Hinrich became the Bulls’ all-time leader in three-point field goals, surpassing Ben Gordon’s record of 770. Hinrich’s 1,049 three-pointers in a Bulls uniform are still the most in franchise history and so too are his 2,792 three-point attempts.
Chicago lost in five games to the Cleveland Cavaliers that season as Hinrich averaged 12.4 points and four assists during the playoff series. Shortly after the season, Hinrich was traded to the Washington Wizards in exchange for draft rights to Vladimir Veremeenko.
It was in Washington where Hinrich began to wear glasses during games after learning from the team optometrist that he could lose sight in his left eye if he was hit. Hinrich averaged 11.1 points and 4.4 assists during his short time with the Wizards before being traded to the Atlanta Hawks halfway through his first season in Washington.
Atlanta would make the playoffs that season as the fifth seed but Hinrich would injure his hamstring in Game 6 of the first-round series, causing him to miss the entire second round where the Hawks would lose to his former team, the Bulls.
The next season wouldn’t go much better for Hinrich as he missed the first 18 games of the 2011-12 campaign after undergoing left shoulder surgery. Upon his return, he averaged career lows in points (6.6), assists (2.8) and minutes (25.8).
In the summer of 2012, Hinrich signed a two-year contract to return to the Bulls and in the absence of Rose, “Captain Kirk” began the 2012-13 season as Chicago’s starting point guard. However, Hinrich continued to struggle with injuries throughout the season as an elbow infection and stress reaction in his foot caused him to shoot just 38% from the field. He put together an impressive playoff performance in Game 4 of a first-round series against the Brooklyn Nets, scoring 18 points and dishing out 14 assists as the Bulls won 142-134 in triple overtime to go up 3-1. But Hinrich would miss the rest of the postseason after rupturing his calf in the second quarter of the game and the Bulls were eliminated in the second round by the Heat.
Hinrich returned to the bench behind Rose for the 2013-14 season, but this time, it was Rose who had the injury bug. The former No. 1 overall pick’s season was over after just 10 games due to a torn meniscus which thrust Hinrich back into the starting lineup. He would enjoy a much healthier season, playing in 73 games (his most since the 2009-10 season) and averaging 9.1 points (his most since 2010-11).
Hinrich played in just 101 games and averaged just 20 minutes over the next two seasons in Chicago before being traded back to Atlanta in a three-team deal. Game 2 of the 2016 Eastern Conference Semifinals would be Hinrich’s final NBA game in which he scored three points and grabbed two rebounds.
HBD to the underrated Captain Kirk Hinrich! pic.twitter.com/Hnxnmt4hhJ
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) January 2, 2020
Where is Kirk Hinrich now?
After retiring from the NBA in 2017, Hinrich and his family moved to Sioux Falls, South Dakota to follow in his father’s footsteps as a coach. The Sanford POWER Basketball Academy hired Hinrich as the lead academy specialist.
Hinrich married his wife, Jill Fisher, on July 7, 2007 and the couple gave birth to their first child, a daughter named Kenzie, in 2007. Their second daughter, Kyla, was born in September 2011 and then in September 2014, twins Kolton and Kinley were born.
Although Hinrich’s name might not hold the weight of Jordan or Rose, he’s inarguably one of the most impactful Bulls of the modern era.
