It can be fun to play “where are they now” with former members of the Chicago Bulls. Diehard fans of the Bulls may remember a rookie guard named Brandon Sampson, who had a cup of tea with the franchise all the way back in 2018-19 — and is still playing professional basketball many miles away from Chicago.
Sampson was a 6’5″ shooting guard who was a Louisiana product through and through. He was born in Baton Rouge, grew up in Baton Rouge and played college basketball in Baton Rouge for the LSU Tigers. He was a part of the same freshman class as Ben Simmons and stayed long enough to play alongside future NBA players such as Duop Reath, Skylar Mays and Tremont Waters.
After going undrafted in the 2018 NBA Draft, Sampson played for the Houston Rockets’ G League affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, whose up and down play gave Sampson plenty of opportunity to showcase his scoring ability. He impressed enough for the Chicago Bulls to offer him a two-way contract two months into the season.
Sampson split his time between the Bulls and their own G League team, the Windy City Bulls. He filled up the stat sheet in the G League, but his time in the NBA was in a much smaller role. In 14 appearances, Sampson scored a total of 71 points and shot a respectable 37.9 percent from 3-point range.
His best game was at the very end of the season against former teammate Ben Simmons and the Philadelphia 76ers, where he dropped 12 points on 5-for-8 shooting and was +16 despite a blowout loss for the Bulls. He did little with a little opportunity, just enough to get himself into the official log of former Bulls players.
Brandon Sampson has played everywhere
From there, Brandon Sampson began an itinerant career all around North America. In addition to the Vipers and Bulls, he logged time for the Iowa Wolves, the Delaware Blue Coats and the Wisconsin Herd in the NBA G League. He also spent time in the Canadian Elite Basketball League, playing for the Newfoundland Growlers in 2022 and the Ottawa BlackJacks last season.
It’s appropriate to take a moment to stand in awe of some of the team names in the CEBL. Canada had some fun with these names. In addition to the Growlers and the BlackJacks, the CEBL has such teams as the “Niagara River Lions”, the “Scarborough Shooting Stars”, the “Edmonton Stingers” and the best of them all, the “Winnipeg Sea Bears.” Well done, Canada.
Scratch that. The “Brampton Honey Badgers” may have the best name.
Regardless, Sampson became one of the few former NBA players to suit up for the CEBL, but he didn’t stop there. He has now signed a contract with a new team, Trefl Sopot in Poland to compete both domestically and in the FIBA Europe Cup. He joins other former college standouts such as Paul Scruggs and Kenny Goins to help Trefl make noise this season.
Want to impress your friends and family? Drop some Brandon Sampson trivia on them. The long-forgotten guard got his NBA start with the Bulls, and his journey to “Where is he now?” is an exciting one.
Go Sea Bears.
