Is the hate Jerry Krause gets for "breaking up" the Bulls dynasty warranted?

[D.Brasco]

Lmao at people blaming Krause. Reinsdorf is the owner, nothing happens without his approval. Did some of you miss when he went around Krause and gave Phil a one year contract when Krause wasn’t doing what Reinsdorf thought was best? Some of you think Reinsdorf just got punked into unwillingly breaking up the roster?

Yep and that is the thing. People all hate Krause, but Reinsdorf was the owner. He could have fired Krause at any moment and either made Phil Jackson the GM or at least hired a "MJ friendly" GM that would have extended MJ's career in Chicago. He didn't do that. Reinsdorf deserves way more of the blame than he gets.


Also I have heard conflicting reports on that Phil Jackson was 100% forced out. Watching this makes it seem like Phil Jackson was "begged to come back" for another year. Of course Krause had poisoned the relationship where Phil Jackson didn't want to spend another minute working with him, but again that could have been fixed with Reinsdorf firing Krause.

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Reinsdorfs issue is that he was loyal to people like Krause. At the end of the day, yes he is the owner and there is some blame, but he is not the GM of the team. You hire a GM to make those decisions and he trusted Krause.

To break up that team was just as crazy at the time as it is now.

I actually think the Bulls could have won a 7th. They would have had time to rest for the first time in 3 years due to the lockout. Many guys on other rosters came into that season out of shape but you can be damn sure MJ would have been in shape. The Knicks ended up making the finals as an 8th seed and weren't nearly as strong as they'd been in the past. The Spurs team that won had a young TD, declining David Robinson and some good vets - Mario Ellie, Sean Elliot, Avery Johnson, Steve Kerr, but still no Manu/Parker combo. I'm confident the Bulls make the finals and make it more of a contest than the Knicks did.

They would have had a longer off-season but a much more compressed regular season. It would have been 50 games played from February through April vs 82 games spread out from October through April.

The other 30 plus guys on the team would have been run pretty haggard by the time the playoffs started.

Karl Malone won MVP that season but he was one of the best in shape gym rats in NBA history.

[BigtimeNBAfan]

Yeah the 99 season shouldn't be made to be this lighter walk in the park. The season was condensed, but there were far more back to backs and I believe it is the only season in history where teams were playing 3 games in 3 nights. It was Feb 5th to May 5th. So 50 games in less than 90 days.

Karl Malone was clearly gassed by the playoffs too. He won MVP, but he shot his lowest FG% and scored his lowest PPG in his entire playoff career to that point in 99.

[Golden Knight]

It's really mind boggling from a business standpoint to let go of Jordan and the Bulls just like that.


Also at that time it was virtually unthinkable/impossible but looking back especially that Jordan played later for the Wizards, if he could redo things - would Jordan have gone to other teams instead of retiring? maybe go to Charlotte and bring Pippen and Phil with him?

[durka]

Krause deserves the flack he gets IMO, but so does Reinsdorf for enabling him. I think it speaks volumes that he also stuck with GarPax over Thibs after a 50 win season which in turn drove out Butler. Obviously totally different calibre of coach, GM and player here, but there are definitely some parallels in the situations. Reinsdorf stuck with the GM over the coach and lost the Star as a result in both cases.

[BigtimeNBAfan]

It's really mind boggling from a business standpoint to let go of Jordan and the Bulls just like that.


Also at that time it's was virtually unthinkable/impossible but looking back especially that Jordan played later for the Wizards, if he could redo things - would Jordan have gone to other teams instead of retiring? maybe go to Charlotte and bring Pippen and Phil with him?

That is the weird thing too. You would think ultra competitive Jordan would want to go elsewhere and beat Krause. He goes to the Knicks he wins another title is a God in two cities and makes Krause look even dumber than he already does.

[BigtimeNBAfan]

I think as the world is currently sh*tting on Jerry Krause, a question should be brought up; does he belong in the hall of fame?

As Krause is crucified it is interesting we are talking about a hall of famer and a guy who has a banner hanging in the United Center. Were these things justified? Does surrounding Jordan with a great coach and good surrounding cast overshadow how it ended in Chicago?

[prolific passer]

What if bulls kept Thorn? He turned around the nets from worse to 2 finals appearances.

Also Krause does belong in the hall due to him being the gm during the 6 titles. Just a bad way to end things due to egos.

[Southpaw]

Yes it is, RIP to Mr. Krause.

Like Jordan said, the team earned the right to have the Dynasty die a natural death, or something to that effect. There was no reason to break the team up, other than ego. Reinsdorf should get as much blame for this too because he allowed this to happen. I dunno what he was thinking. At least we know Krause wanted to prove himself.

[Ryoga Hibiki]

Of course not, he was just the easy scapegoat.
He never had the power to end those Bulls, only jordon/pippen/jackson or jerry reinsdorf could.

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[so_bored]

Both Jerry's deserve all the flak.

[prolific passer]

Reinsdorf brought him in from his beloved white sox when people from probably both the nba and mlb said it was a bad idea.

[durden_tyler]

Yes, this is the GOAT we're talking about, you would still be a contender 2-3 years maybe if you do not break it up

[Roscoe Sheed]

While it’s incredibly stupid and I still don’t understand how it’s possible that the owner thought it was a good idea... I really don’t think the Bulls were winning another one and I think it probably helps MJ’s legacy to end on that note (not really counting the Wizards).

But... How is it possible to get rid of the championship team? He would get crucified for it now. It makes absolutely no sense.

Reinsdorf should get more hate for it though. He’s the guy at the top.

Exactly- Reinsdorf should have fired him when he decided to break up the core. As mentioned, maybe they would have lost (I would have hoped so- never liked the bulls)- but you have to keep a championship team together

[Knicks7Tape]

Reinsdorf looks incompetent as ****. Being a hands off owner is fine but letting Krause tinker without being help accountable makes the owner look worse. Krause deserves at least some credit for the team he put together but his **** ups outweigh his accolades.

[Senor Chang]

This is what happens when the owner of a franchise isn't even a fan of the sport. It was well known that Reinsdorf once said he'd trade all his Bulls championship rings for one White Sox World Series ring. He deferred to Krause and just sat back and focused on his baseball team.

[slicedbread2]

This is what happens when the owner of a franchise isn't even a fan of the sport. It was well known that Reinsdorf once said he'd trade all his Bulls championship rings for one White Sox World Series ring. He deferred to Krause and just sat back and focused on his baseball team.

Truly and utterly pathetic. If anything, this quote alone shows how much of an ungrateful prick Reinsdorf truly is. He had the opportunity to bring everybody into a room and put a stop to this nonsense and let the dynasty go out on it's own terms like the Lakers, Pistons and Spurs. If it weren't for Jordan and Pippen, the Bulls would be the Clippers of the midwest.

And that's not mentioning the BS he pulled in baseball with Bud Selig that resulted in the 94 season being locked out and getting the previous commissioner fired while Selig owned the Brewers. The fact that he and Selig are in the HOF is a joke, but as long as the money was rolling in and the bottom line was in tact, no crime has been committed.

[prolific passer]

This is what happens when the owner of a franchise isn't even a fan of the sport. It was well known that Reinsdorf once said he'd trade all his Bulls championship rings for one White Sox World Series ring. He deferred to Krause and just sat back and focused on his baseball team.

Reinsdorf plucked Krause from his white sox organization who was a pretty hated guy at the time. Idk how good a scout Krause was in baseball but he sucked at it during his NBA time.

[Doctor MJ]

So let's say Krause ok's Jackson to stick around as coach. How much more would those Bulls have achieved from '99 onward?

Jordan still good was on the down turn at 35, Pippen was already having back issues and had been declining for a few years himself, Rodman was 37 or so and about to check out if not physically, mentally.

Why do people make it like Krause took away or stole future rings?

There's a specific antipathy that people feel toward ownership/management that end up in feuds with their own players and end up on the wrong side of history. The classic NBA example is Donald Sterling, owner of the Clippers.

There's also a specific antipathy toward management when it's felt like they let their own ego hurt the organization that stood before they arrived and would stand afterward. The more recent example along these lines was David Kahn the GM of the Minnesota Timberwolves. He very clearly tried to first bury and then push out Kevin Love because Love was drafted by the previous regime.

And if any part of you thinks, "Well yeah, but it's not like Love was THAT good." Yeah, imagine if Love was Michael Jordan, and you have Krause.

In Krause's defense: He was way, way, way more competent than Kahn.

[tonyreyes123]

Bulls lose to the Spurs in a passing of the torch Finals

[Metallikid]

No because then we wouldn't have the Shaq & Kobe 3peat