Watch the Moment Matas Buzelis Became A Bull: “I Was Born For This”

Matas Buzelis is going home.

Born right outside Chicago in the suburb of Hinsdale, the G-League Ignite forward will suit up for the Chicago Bulls. The organization selected him with the No. 11 overall pick after he took a surprising tumble down the draft board. Many had previously expected him to go somewhere within the top-6, with prior reports indicating the Bulls might consider trading up to land him.

Buzelis appeared as shocked as the Bulls likely were when they called in the pick. The hometown player was clearly very emotional, as both he and his family couldn’t believe their luck.

Take a look at the moment his name was called:

And here’s the moment it looked like things were really setting in …

Buzelis walked on stage to shake hands with commissioner Adam Silver before speaking with ESPN’s Monic McNutt. Fighting back tears, he already sounded eager to lace ’em up.

“I’m blessed, man. This is what I wanted. I wanted to be here. Thank you to the Bulls’ organization. I’m ready to work, man. I was born for this,” Buzelis said.

The full interview is worth a watch below. And for more on the player the Bulls’ are getting, check out our post here.

written by

Elias Schuster is the Lead Chicago Bulls writer at Bleacher Nation. He started with BN full-time in 2019 immediately after graduating from the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign with a degree in Journalism (yes, he started with the Jim Boylen Era). Since joining, Elias has been the driving force behind Bulls and NBA content for both the site and social accounts. You can follow him on Twitter/X @Schuster_Elias.

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