Heads you win, tails I lose ...

The basketball gods twisted the knife on the Bulls on Monday night. By losing the coin-flip with the Mavericks for the No. 11 pick in the NBA lottery — and the Mavericks won the lottery for the No. 1 overall pick and Cooper Flagg. The Bulls will pick 12th.

That 15-5 run to finish the season that general manager Arturas Karnisovas was clinging to looked like fool's gold at the time, but even worse now. If the Bulls had lost just one more game — like the Lakers game they won on Josh Giddey's half-court shot at the buzzer on March 27 — they would have had the No. 1 pick.

The Bulls can't win for losing. In 2018 the Bulls won a coin flip with the Kings for the No 6 spot in the lottery and the Kings ended up with the No. 2 pick and a chance to draft Luka Doncic. They took Marvin Bagley, Jr., but that's their problem. If not for a flip of the coin, the Bulls would have had had the opportunity to make that mistake.

The Bulls are the epitome of NBA hell — not good enough to contend for a championship but not bad enough to get the help they need. They've gone 39-43, 39-43 and 40-42 the last three seasons and played at a 38-44 clip in the second half of the 2021-22 season (19-22). So they are 137-150 (.477) for the last 3 1/2 seasons.

The lesson, apparently, is that the Bulls don't just need to tank. They need to tank just right. The teams with the three worst records in the NBA last season are picking 5-6-7 — the Hornets (19-63), the Jazz (17-65), Wizards (18-64) and Pelicans (21-61). The Mavericks (39-43, same as the Bulls) and the Spurs (34-48) are picking 1-2.

If Karnisovas isn't going to be lucky, his only choice is to be good — or better than he's been. Giannis Antetokounmpo was the 14th pick in 2014. Donovan Mitchell the 13th pick in 2017. Tyrese Haliburton No. 12 in 2020.

The latest coin-flip misadventure brings back bad memories for Chicago fans. But although the two biggest coin-flip losses are massive, overall the coin-flip record isn't that bad.

Chicago Tribune sports editor Arch Ward announced the first major-league baseball All-Star Game on May 19, 1933 – to be held at either Comiskey Park or Wrigley Field. Initially, the game was expected to be a one-time event, but was so popular it became an annual event in 1934

• 1933 — Comiskey Park wins a coin flip with Wrigley Field to host the first All-Star Game — the brainchild of Tribune sports editor Arch Ward.

• 1964 — The Bears lose the coin toss with the Steelers for the No. 3 pick in the 1965 draft — except it doesn't matter. The Bears already own the Steelers pick. They take Illinois linebacker Dick Bukus at No. 3, and Kansas running back Gale Sayers at No. 4.

• 1970 — he Bears lose a coin flip with the Steelers for the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft. The Steelers take Louisiana Tech quarterback Terry Bradshaw. The Bears trade the No. 2 pick to the Packers for linebacker Lee Roy Caffee, center Bob Hyland and running back Elijah Pitts.

• 1970 — The Bulls win a coin flip with the Suns for third place in the Western Division and play the division champion Hawks instead of the second-place Lakers (in an odd 1 vs. 3, 2 vs. 4 playoff set-up). The Bulls lose their first-round series 4-1, while the Suns take the Lakers to seven games and lose 4-3.

• 1975 — The Bears win a coin flip with the Browns for the No. 4 pick in the draft. The Bears take Jackson State running back Walter Payton. The Browns take Houston defensive end Mack Mitchell.

• 1976 — The Bulls lose a coin toss with the Atlanta Hawks for the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft. (They even lost the coin toss to determine who would call the coin toss!) The Hawks trade the pick to the Rockets, who take Maryland guard John Lucas. The Bulls take Indiana forward Scott May.

  
  

  

  
  
  
  

The Bulls ran advertisements in the Sun-Times and Tribune in both 1976 and 1979 asking fans to weigh in on the coin flip for the No. 1 pick

In 1979, the Bulls not only asked for help with "heads" or "tails" but with the actual pick. (Larry Bird had been drafted by the Celtics in 1978 and could have been available if he had not signed with them by the 1979 draft. Alas, he signed with the Celtics 17 days before the '79 draft.)

• 1979 — The Bulls lose the coin flip with the Lakers for the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft. The Lakers take Michigan State's Magic Johnson. The Bulls take UCLA's David Greenwood.

• 1998 — The Cubs win a coin flip with the Giants to host a potential playoff for the NL wild card. The teams indeed tie for the final playoff spot and the Cubs, who were 51-31 at home (fourth best home record in the NL), win 5-3. The Cubs lost the NL Division Series to the Braves, 3-0.

• 2007 — Bears win the coin flip to start Super Bowl XLI and elect to receive. Devin Hester returns the opening kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown — still the only touchdown on the opening kickoff in NFL history.

• 2008 — The White Sox win a coin flip with the Twins to host a potential playoff for the AL Central title (assistant GM Rick Hahn said he called heads on the advice of his son Jake). The teams finish 88-74 and the Sox, who were 54-28 at home that season, win the playoff game, 1-0. The Twins were 8-1 against the White Sox at the Metrodome and 2-8 at U.S. Celluar Field. The Sox lost the AL Division Series to Joe Maddon and the Devil Rays, 3-1.

• 2018 — The Bulls win a coin toss with the Sacramento Kings for the sixth spot in the NBA draft lottery. The Bulls end up with the seventh pick. The Kings jump up to No. 2 and take Duke forward Marvin Bagley, Jr. over Slovenia guard Luka Doncic (No. 3 to the Mavericks via the Hawks) and Oklahoma guard Trae Young (No. 5 to the Hawks via the Mavericks). The Bulls take Duke forward Wendell Carter, Jr. and — among others — Kentucky guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (No. 11 to the Thunder) and Villanova guard Mikal Bridges (No. 10 to the Suns via the 76ers).