Chicago Bulls fans have been blasted for booing the club’s late great Basketball GM Jerry Krause, which brought his widow, who was accepting an award on his behalf to tears.
Krause was one of 13 members of the inaugural class for the Bulls’ “Ring of Honor,” and was being recognized as the architect of their six championship teams.
Krause helped build the Bulls dynasty that won six NBA Championships from 1991 to 1998, but was painted as one of the key figures in breaking up the team in the Michael Jordan inspired documentary, The Last Dance.
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Krause had a fractured relationship with Jordan after his infamous quote was edited and taken out of context.
He allegedly said, “players don’t win championships, organisations do”, which caught the ire of Jordan during their stunning run of six titles in eight years.
However, Krause actually said, “players and coaches alone don’t win championships, with the word “alone” edited out for effect.
Krause’s depiction in The last Dance is believed to be a contributing factor into why some fans booed him, but ironically many of those same fans wouldn’t have been connected to the team when he was involved with the club.
Bulls legend and now commentator Stacey King condemned the actions of the crowd for booing the late Mr Krause.
“Chicago is a sports town and what we witnessed today when Jerry Krause’s name was called and the people that booed Jerry Krause and his widow, who was accepting this honour for him, it was the worst thing I have ever seen in my life,” King said.
“I hurt for that lady, it brought her to tears.
“Whoever booed her in this arena should be ashamed of themselves. That’s not Chicago.
“That’s New York, Philly. Chicago is not like that. We don’t have a reputation of being that way and whether you like Jerry Krause or not, that man brought six championships here.
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“He didn’t shoot a basket nor did he get a rebound but he put six titles up in this arena. There’s a lot of teams that don’t even have one and that was really classless.
“I was really disappointed that booed him… I felt so bad for that lady, she’s a wonderful lady and it’s sad to see her breaking down in tears. I just wanted to go out there and hug her.”
Krause died on March 21, 2017 at the age of 77.
He was an American sports scout and executive who was the general manager of the Chicago Bulls in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1985 to 2003.
He was twice named NBA Executive of the year in 1988 and 1996.
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