Toward the end of the Charlotte Hornets game in Chicago on Friday, head coach Charles Lee heard the request of the fans inside United Center, chanting for Taj Gibson to enter the game and threw him on the floor to receive a standing ovation.

“It’s special. He’s been phenomenal to our whole organization and to our players. As I looked down, I just was like, ‘What you want to do right now? You want to go in?.’ Lee said. “And I think this place obviously had a big imprint on his career, and so he wanted to go in, and so he did.”

Gibson spent the first eight years of his career with the Bulls, playing a key role in the club’s success in the Eastern Conference. While others such as Derrick Rose, Carlos Boozer, Joakim Noah, and Luol Deng received a ton of recognition for their contributions, Taj Gibson was often the forgotten piece, at least from those on the outside.

In 562 career games with Chicago, Gibson averaged 9.4 points and 6.4 rebounds per game.