The Chicago Bulls left a bitter taste in Ben Gordon’s mouth after only offering him a $55 million deal, not the $59 million deal that was widely reported throughout the contract negotiations.

“A lot of times, things that are reported to the media aren’t correct,” said Gordon, speaking to Mouthpiece Sports‘ Mitch Robinson. “I’m sitting there looking like, wow, was I offered that?”

The hardest part of the process for Gordon was being misunderstood, and people not understanding how things went down.

“Believe none of what you hear and half of what you see,” Gordon warned.

Respect, not money was the main roadblock in reaching a contract agreement.

“A lot of my decisions are made off of principle and respect,” said Gordon.

Gordon likely felt disrespected by the Bulls decreasing his offer from last year while substantially increasing Deng’s offer.

In addition to that, after stating all summer long that the luxury tax was the only thing blocking a larger contract offer from the Bulls to Gordon, it turns out the Bulls weren’t even offering Gordon the full amount they could while remaining under the luxury tax.

“It did leave a bit of a bitter taste,” Gordon said, “but at the same time, it’s a business. That’s something you got to understand quickly once you get into the NBA, it’s a business. It’s a cutthroat business.”

Despite all of this, Ben Gordon and his representation have remained professional throughout the process. Gordon’s representation, Raymond Brothers, stated that they are open to negotiations with the Bulls again next summer.

One can only hope that the Bulls learned from their mistakes and don’t repeat the same mistakes next summer, that they made this summer.