SSUBluesman wrote:After finishing this last night before bed, and thinking through it a bit...
It really is remarkable they accomplished as much as they did, as long as they did with that many manipulative, petty individuals. To be fair I think even if they all wanted to come back Reinsdorf wouldn't have moneyed up, but it was pretty clear Phil was gone after the 82-0 comments and probably no matter what.
While Krause was the fuel for a lot of their fires, especially MJ's (92 Olympics, etc), there was a tendency to exaggerate or just make **** up, especially by MJ. I intend to watch the Jordan Rules (the book) episode again, as the initial viewing I felt like Horace was being used as a scapegoat, possibly by Phil (someone mentioned it during the episode as well iirc). The core of these guys fed on drama and MJ and Phil were master manipulators. Given the way he used Krause as the bad guy I'm inclined to include Reinsdorf.
I think they exaggerate MJ a bit in that the 90's were sold as "the world is flat" decade as globalization, mass marketing, etc. really accelerated. Yea there was no twitter or youtube but it also wasn't the 1950's. It was the perfect storm as you had major corporations throwing their weight behind MJ and marketing heavily everywhere they could.
One question I keep considering is how far would they have gone with a more traditional GM? Yea they found or invented slights, but Krause allowed for an internal Us vs Them that is a special kind of motivator. Also, Reinsdorf is on record as saying he knew Krause's personality would cause problems, did he hire him intentionally to do so or just because he could be manipulated? I lean towards the former as Phil/Pip weren't around at that time so it seems like maybe it's a bit 20/20.
I enjoyed reading that mate. Thanks.
Also remember hearing something about Krauss feeling frustrated and wronged by Phil's disloyalty, as he put it, in not even trying to have Mike and Scottie go a bit easier on him. I think Krauss just got overwhelmed and threw out the 82-0 ultimatum. I've personally known prettier individuals in corporate life, and Krauss was less than average, having seen it through for 10-12 years. It's hard to blame MJ for it. The world was literally his oyster. I'm sure I would turn into the worst version of myself with so much fame and scrutiny around the clock.
There is no doubt, that this guy was one of the greatest basketball minds. His timing and eye of talent in drafts, trades, coaching changes was immaculate.
Kerr said it best 'he couldn't get out of his own way'.
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