I knew Jerry Krause: The Last Dance, Michael Jordan & Co. have done him dirty - cleveland.com
https://www.cleveland.com/cavs/2020/05/i...LU46oyY_P9xz3RMCLEVELAND, Ohio – I called Joe Tait to ask the former Cavs broadcaster if he had been watching ESPN’s The Last Dance.
Did he hear what the Michael Jordan “documentary” was doing to the reputation of former Chicago Bulls GM Jerry Krause.
“I didn’t see it,” said Tait. “But people have been asking me about Jerry. I guess they have made him out to be the worst man on the face of the earth.”
Pretty close.
Tait and I got to know Krause reasonably well, starting in the middle 1980s. I was covering the Cavs for the Akron Beacon Journal. This was the era when the Bulls and Cavs played six times in the regular season, and then often faced off in the playoffs.
So we’d see the Bulls at least 10 times in some seasons.
Tait and I would be killing time before those games, and Krause often came by to talk.
“Sometimes, you sensed he was a man looking for a friend,” said Tait. “I think he knew we were glad to talk to him. We weren’t going to put him down."
Tait paused.
“I liked Jerry," said Tait. “It bothers me to hear how he has been portrayed on ESPN.”
AN EASY TARGET
A long form, 10-part documentary such as The Last Dance needs an enemy. Krause could be petty and paranoid at times. He was a short, heavy man who could sweat simply by getting out of his chair with a grunt.
But watching The Last Dance and listening to the likes of Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen & Co., you’d think Krause had as much to do with assembling the six-time champion Chicago Bulls as their Benny The Bull mascot.
He needlessly duel with members of the media and made life harder than necessary. But that doesn’t diminish his work in Chicago.
Yes, I’m angry about that part of the compelling documentary. It’s unfair, especially because the Hall of Famer (Yes, Krause is in the Hall of Fame) died in 2017 so he isn’t able to defend himself.
I’d love to hear Krause’s version of Coach Phil Jackson’s claim that he could “go 82-0” and still be fired at the end of the 1997-98 season.
“(The documentary) is a cheap shot when it comes to Jerry,” said former Cavs GM Wayne Embry. “Jerry was very good at his job. Once you got to know him, he was a decent guy.”
That’s what Embry told me earlier in the week.
Most NBA people have Krause stories. He was often was ridiculed as “Crumbs” because he’d have food spots on his shirt and tie.
Krause once called Embry, trying to trade backup center Stacey King to the Cavs for a first-round draft pick.
Embry wasn’t interested.
“But Wayne, King has three championship rings,” said Krause.
“So does your trainer," said Embry. “I’m not trading a first-round pick for him, either.”
I reminded Embry of that story, and his laughter was a roar.
AN INNOVATOR
“Jerry was ahead of his time,” said Embry. “He had tremendous relationships with coaches at smaller schools. He would want to meet a prospect’s parents. Part was to get to know the family, but also to look at how the player’s father was built physically. He thought that was a way to gauge how the young player will look when fully grown.”
Krause began as a baseball scout, working for several teams including the Indians in the 1970s. He then switched to basketball. He was successful in both areas, working for the Mets and Yankees after he was fired by the Bulls in 2003.
Former Bulls GM Rod Thorn selected Michael Jordan with the No. 3 pick in the 1984 NBA draft.
In 1985, Krause replaced Thorn as the Bulls GM.
Of course you can build a championship team around Jordan, but it’s not easy. Remember how the Cavs struggled to find the right mix of players for LeBron James.
WHO PUT THE TEAM TOGETHER?
Krause had a franchise-changing draft in 1987, trading up to No. 5 to grab Pippen from Central Arkansas. It was a shock to many to see a small-college player drafted that high. Krause grabbed power forward Horace Grant at No. 10.
Krause gave Doug Collins his first chance to be a head coach in the NBA. He later replaced Collins with Phil Jackson, who had been a coach with Albany in the CBA.
Both hirings were gutsy.
“He had veteran assistants Tex Winters and Johnny Bach to help Jackson,” said Embry. “That was smart.”
Krause once explained to Tait and me why he fired Collins. It was a few months after Jordan’s Shot vs. the Cavs in 1989. The GM believed Collins put too much burden and too much isolation offense on Jordan.
He thought Jackson would be strong enough to bring in the Triangle Offense (designed by Winters) and create a share-the-ball mindset to win a title. He was right, although I also believe they would have eventually won a title with Collins.
But Jackson became one of the NBA’s all-time great coaches.
“No one saw that coming,” said Tait. “I knew Phil when I was doing the Nets games in 1981-82. Phil was doing some TV for the team. We rode to and from the airport together. I liked Phil, but he was considered a maverick back then."
Krause made trades such as Will Perdue for Dennis Rodman and Charles Oakley for Bill Cartwright. He kept surrounding Jordan with shooters such as Steve Kerr, B.J. Armstrong and Craig Hodges. He drafted Toni Kukoc in the second round.
I remember Krause telling us how the Bulls needed Cartwright to defend opposing centers, including the Cavs’ Brad Daugherty. It was mostly a big man’s league back then.
INSECURITY HAUNTED HIM
Krause thought he never received credit for his role with the Bulls.
He correctly believed Jackson turned on him. The coach joined several key players such as Jordan and Pippen in mocking him – and blaming Krause for whatever went wrong.
Krause said no one else was looking to make Jackson a head coach when the GM gave him a chance. That was true. But Krause resented much of the credit Jackson received when the Bulls won big.
He is only partly to blame for breaking up the Bulls. In the documentary, Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf admitted he “couldn’t afford” to bring back the entire Bulls roster for another season after The Last Dance.
Krause desperately wanted to rebuild the Bulls without Jordan and Jackson. He had the chance and failed.
I contacted Steve Kerr, who has the unique perspective of having played for Krause, been a GM of the Phoenix Suns and is now head coach of the Golden State Warriors.
“Jerry was an excellent judge of talent and did an amazing job of assembling the Bulls,” texted Kerr. "He was socially awkward, so it was difficult to get to know him.
“It always seemed he sought more credit to justify his work, when his work actually would have spoken for itself. He just couldn’t figure out that part.”
Kerr is right. Krause’s personality made his life harder than need be, but that shouldn’t negate the role he played in building the Bulls.
