Dickey Simpkins - Parting Shots

Dickey's parting shots

September 19, 2000
BY LACY J. BANKS STAFF REPORTER
Chicago Sun Times

The last remaining player from the Bulls' championship teams departed this month when Dickey Simpkins was released. But the dynasty's final survivor did not go quietly.

"Now we can see what Jerry Krause is made of," Simpkins said of the Bulls' operations chief, who drafted the 6-10 power forward from Providence with the 21st pick in the 1994 draft.

"Jerry wants to take credit for the championships the team won. Yes, he brought in good players to play around Michael [Jordan]. But did he plan the outcome? Did he win the games? If he is as good a general manager as he thinks he is, now is the time for him to show it.

"After all his talk about bringing in top free agents and after all his undermining to get rid of the people involved with winning the championships, from the top of the totem pole with Michael Jordan, Phil Jackson and Scottie Pippen, all the way down to the bottom with them renouncing me, now is his chance to show what he can really do."

Except for a 19-game stint with the Golden State Warriors at the start of the 1997-98 season, Simpkins has played all of his 326 NBA games with the Bulls and was their starting center the last two seasons. He averaged 4.3 points and 3.6 rebounds in his Bulls career and played for their last three championship teams. The Bulls renounced his rights Sept. 7.

Simpkins, who recently married his longtime sweetheart, Sophia, said he enjoyed playing for coaches Jackson and Tim Floyd. He enjoyed playing with all his teammates with the possible exception of Jack Haley, who Simpkins felt prostituted himself as Dennis Rodman's "baby-sitter." And he especially enjoyed playing for Bulls fans, doing community service for the front office and living in Chicago.

A staunch company man who never complained and toiled in relative anonymity, Simpkins spoke out on his feelings for the Bulls organization in general and Krause in particular during an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times.

Q. If a free agent asks you for advice about signing with the Bulls, would you put in a good word for the organization?

A. I would simply say the Bulls are definitely a first-class organization because they have done a lot of things first-class. But I would also tell them, look at the Bulls' record and see if that loyalty is there.

I see loyalty with other teams that I don't see in the Bulls. Other teams have a tradition of taking care of veterans who play hard, help the team in the community and stay out of trouble. But if you're going to have the Chicago Bulls as one of your options . . . I would ask them, "Can you be a believer in Krause? Can you trust Krause?"

If they can trust Krause, if they can believe his rebuilding plan is working and that the team will be loyal to them when they give their all, then pick the Bulls.

Q. Do you feel the Bulls showed you loyalty to the end?

A. No. Not the loyalty I've seen other teams show their veterans. I know that Jerry Krause can say, "Look, I gave the man a job." But it wasn't like he gave me a job and I came in here and did nothing. I worked hard for the Bulls. I gave them all I had.

It would have been good if they could have delayed renouncing me a little longer to keep my Larry Bird exception rights alive and keep me eligible for a sign-and-trade. I don't think it was that necessary to renounce me now just to sign another guy [center Brad Miller] and save more cap room. But you know Jerry Krause. He does what he has to do.

Q. What would you have done if you had Krause's job?

A. A lot of things could have been done differently. Everybody knows that. For example, the [championship] team could have stuck together and won one or two more championships. Jerry could have done other things to make sure that Randy [Brown], Scott Burrell, Jud Buechler, myself and other guys who did their jobs well and didn't cause any trouble were taken care of just like they took care of Scottie Pippen, Steve Kerr and Luc Longley.

Also, how can you have a guy like Michael, the game's best player, play his whole career here, do all he did for the franchise and then he ends up being more welcome working for another team after he retires? That doesn't make sense.

Q. How do you judge Krause's recent performance?

A. He sure isn't off to a good start since he failed to get any of those top free agents he said he had saved all that money to sign. I wasn't surprised none of them came here. He didn't sign them because players don't feel he will be loyal to them.

Q. Why didn't you complain earlier?

A. You can deal with Krause, his unfulfilled promises and all the other things as long as the team is winning championships and as long as there is a chance he'll keep his promises with you. Players weren't the only people to receive unfulfilled promises from Krause. What about his two top assistants, Jimmy Stack and Clarence Gaines?

Those are fine young men who worked hard over the years for Krause. And now they're gone. There comes a time when you get tired of being straight-up and loyal and he still just runs over you and shows little gratitude and mutual respect.

Q. What was it like to play for Krause?

A. It was a tough situation to deal with. Jerry thinks that everybody should praise him, reach out for him and give their all to him. But he has no people skills or good communicational skills.

He walks around the Berto Center and acts like you have to go out of your way to speak to him because he's too good to speak to you. I know business is business. But you still ought to treat people like human beings. Treat them with respect. Show gratitude and appreciation when they work hard for you.

At the start of the summer, he was vague about whether he wanted to keep me or whether he would try to help me go somewhere else. We never heard from Jerry again until he called to let us know that he was going to renounce me.

Q. Your agent, Sean Holley, said Krause gave you permission to work out at the Berto Center until you find a new team. Will you do so?

A. No. I actually stopped using the Bulls' facility a month ago. I felt that Dickey Simpkins had had enough of doing everything that Jerry Krause wanted him to do from Day 1. I played in the summer league without a contract. I sat on the injured list when the club needed me to. I did my community work whenever they'd ask me. I did other things I'd rather not say right now.

Q. Word is Krause had an assistant ask you to tell Lari Ketner, Mark Bryant and Mario Bennett that the organization didn't think the cornrow hairstyle gave those players an acceptable professional image as members of the Bulls. Is that true?

A. No comment. I won't answer that right now. I will say that Dickey Simpkins doesn't wear cornrows because I choose not to. But I believe if players want to wear cornrows, it should be their choice.

Q. Any final words?

A. Despite a lot of ups and downs, I enjoyed my time with the Bulls. I learned a lot, and I experienced a lot. I learned a lot, especially about this business. For me to be the last guy standing or the last guy around, having accomplished a lot, worked hard and kept my head, it tells me, "Hey, this guy can stick around for a little while." But all good things come to an end.

Just posting this because I admire a man who knows his place in history: "the people involved with winning the championships, from the top of the totem pole with Michael Jordan, Phil Jackson and Scottie Pippen, all the way down to the bottom with them renouncing me". Hey - Dickey at least knows he was scraping the bottom of the totem pole, along with such notables as Jud Buechler and Bill Wennington, riding Jordan's @$$ to three rings. If only Quitten realized he was also along for the ride...


------------------