CHICAGO -- New Bulls coach Tiago Splitter said his connection to the team dates back to childhood. Splitter, who grew up in Brazil, recalled staying up until the early hours of the morning, often unbeknownst to his parents, just to watch Michael Jordan and root for the Bulls.

So, while Splitter said he was honored to be named the newest coach of the Bulls during his introductory news conference Wednesday afternoon, he also acknowledged the team has a lot of work to do to get back to the glory days of that Jordan dynasty he remembers so fondly.

"I think we have a great future in front of us," Splitter said. "We want to create a culture of high standards, great habits, every day. Get better, grow. It's going to be a lot of work. It's going to take some time. I know what it takes and I know the responsibility that I have and the expectations that comes with being the head coach of the Chicago Bulls."

Splitter is the first coach hired by the team's new vice president of basketball operations, Bryson Graham, who took over the front office in early May. Graham conducted a thorough and wide-ranging coaching search that included four finalists before landing on Splitter. Graham said the two bonded over a similar vision of how to build an organization.

"We want to put a product out that is going to compete at a really, really high level," Graham said. "Have really, really high standards and set a bar high. It doesn't matter how much talent is in the building right now. We have to establish an identity and a culture that this community and this organization is proud of.

"Me and Tiago see things, from a basketball perspective as well as an organizational perspective, very similar."

Splitter arrives in Chicago after being elevated last season to interim coach of the Portland Trail Blazers after coach Chauncey Billups was arrested as part of a federal investigation into a gambling operation . Billups has pleaded not guilty in the case.

It thrust Splitter into a difficult situation near the start of the season, but the Blazers still finished with a winning record and made the playoffs for the first time since the 2020-21 campaign.

"It was almost like at the beginning we got to focus on basketball, try to avoid the outside noise," Splitter said Wednesday. "That was the hardest part at the beginning. Make them believe that that season was about basketball and nothing else.

"It takes effort, takes commitment, not just by me, but the players, as well. I think they were tremendous. I give them credit, as well, to follow me and try to make it happen. But it wasn't an easy situation. At the end, we almost forgot about it, and that was the great thing."

Splitter gained the support of the Blazers' locker room and helped guide forward Deni Avdija to his first All-Star team. But despite the team's success, Portland did not retain Splitter as coach. He did not want to elaborate further Wednesday, keeping his focus on Chicago.

"I really want to leave that behind," Splitter said. "I want to think about the Bulls. That's my goal right now."

Splitter will try to replicate the success he found in Portland with a franchise starved for it.

The Blazers had posted four consecutive losing seasons without making the playoffs before Splitter's squad broke through in 2025-26. The Bulls have posted four consecutive losing seasons and will have the No. 4 and No. 15 picks in next week's NBA draft. The last Bulls coach to lead them to the playoffs in their first season was Tom Thibodeau in 2011, but Splitter wasn't looking that far ahead Wednesday.

"I can guarantee you one thing," Splitter said. "You're going to compete every night. And we're going to have high standards with everything that we do.

"And then eventually we can make small goals and small wins."