http://espn.go.com/nba/news/2003/0407/1535067.html CHICAGO -- Bulls general manager Jerry Krause resigned Monday, citing health problems, after a tenure that included six NBA championships in the 1990s with Michael Jordan. Krause, 64, held the post since 1985. He has struggled to rebuild the team since Jordan left after leading Chicago to a third straight title in 1998. At 27-50 through Monday, the Bulls will finish with a losing record for the fifth straight season and miss the playoffs again. "The rigors and stress of the job have caused me some minor physical problems in the past few years," Krause said in statement released by the team. "Those problems can be eliminated if I lessen my load for a while and concentrate on overcoming them. "It is only fair to the players and staff that (chairman) Jerry Reinsdorf be able to select my successor as soon as possible prior to the draft, just as he did with me on March 26, 1985." Reinsdorf, who hopes to have a successor in place within a month, praised Krause. "He brought with him a vision of how to build a champion and he proceeded to create one of the most dominant champions of all time," Reinsdorf said. "No basketball fan in America can begin to imagine the world champion Chicago Bulls without his imprint," Reinsdorf said. "There would not have been a coach Phil Jackson. There would not have been Scottie Pippen, Bill Cartwright, Dennis Rodman, or a host of others who wore Bulls uniforms during those championship seasons."
I didn't see this coming. Might the Bulls be less unlovable? Might this affect Rox dealing with issues of the pick owed by Chicago?
I believe the "rigors and stress of the job" he was referring to was his limited access to his twinkie stash at home.
Let's see who is brought in, and who that guy has for his fellas. Cartwright? Out, I'd guess. Players? That's a curious one.
Jay Williams for Mooch + a 2nd rounder. Chandler for Griffin + a bag of weed. Rose for Rice + Mr. Mean.
Michael Jordan (circa 1996) for Cuttino Mobley + two championships. Jason Collier for a box of Wheaties, Gatorade 6-pack, 3 toothpicks and a toothbrush.
I'm guessing Krause's minor health problem is a bruised ego. To bad gettinbranded is banished. I would love to see his spin on this! <b>"He brought with him a vision of how to build a champion and he proceeded to create one of the most dominant champions of all time," Reinsdorf said. "No basketball fan in America can begin to imagine the world champion Chicago Bulls without his imprint," Reinsdorf said. "There would not have been a coach Phil Jackson. There would not have been Scottie Pippen, Bill Cartwright, Dennis Rodman, or a host of others who wore Bulls uniforms during those championship seasons."</b> Looks like they're hellbent on sticking to the "players don't win championships, organizations win championships" philosophy that has lead to the Bulls going into the toilet.
The Bulls are better for having lost that enormous ego from their franchise. Krause was always jealous that he never received credit as the architect of the Bulls' Dynasty. So he decided to let everyone from that dynasty walk and create a new one... as we can see he failed miserably. I hope no one ill will and hope his health improves, but glad to see a guy like Krause who ruined a franchise go.
Jerry Krause must be the most maligned person in the entire NBA. In fact Krause has been one of the best talent evaluators in the business and an above average businessman. Everyone who's dreaming to become a GM on a sports team one day should study some of the fat guy's moves over the years because they are truly brilliant. This current bulls team is on their way to be a contender instead of a mediocre team like many of the rebuilding teams become. The above comments certainly will not get me much support , so here is what the Rockets should do to take advantage of the situation. We should offer Cuttino Mobley and Eddie Griffin to the bulls for Tyson Chandler, Jamal Crawford, Trenton Hassell, and the bulls first round pick in 2003. If Michael Jordan became the bulls GM as expected, he would certainly pull the trigger on this trade because: 1. The bulls need a SG after MJ trades away Jalen Rose (unless he plays it himself). 2. Jordan has always been an EG fun. The Rockets could then send the bulls first round pick to Memphis for Wesley Person and we would have a pretty solid team for next year and years to come.
i don't think he failed miserably. have you seen how well chandler and curry have been playing lately. with the core he built the last 3 years, the bulls will be competing for the eastern conference title for about the next 12 years.
Is this Jordan's chance to rejoin the Bulls in an executive capacity or is he already hog-tied to the Wiz?
Jerry Krause was trying to build a winner since he dismantled the the dynasty that was in place. He drafted Elton Brand and then drafted another PF in Marcus Fizer the following year. Then he trades Ron Artest and Brad Miller (two very good if not decent players), for Jalen Rose. He trades Elton Brand for a highschooler in Chandler and drafts another in Curry. So he basically started over in his rebuilding process. Not to mention the fact that he failed to lure any big name free agents with all the cap space that they had (oh yeah I forgot Ron Mercer ). Krause let his ego get in the way of his job. He failed to do what he sought out to do which was rebuild the Bulls on the fly and make them contenders quickly, it didn't happen. I agree that the Bulls are in a good position now, and they may be contenders in the East but there are alot of factors that need to be in place for it to happen.
I had trouble following Kraus' genius at work. He helped to alienate the greatest basketball player of all time in Jordan, he traded Brand away. He traded for Jalen Rose in a departure from the youth movement. He seemed a very erratic manager, whose mistakes over the years were overlooked by Jordan's overwhelming success. I am very surprised he was not fired earlier. I can't stand Pippen, but Kraus helped severely alienate Pippen. This guy was genetalia (you pick which)with ears.
Jalen Rose was a bad move but a necessary move. And I honestly think Kaurse made a great move by trading away Elton Brand. Brand was not the kind of lead guy you could build your team around. He may make you competitive (actually not so competitive, I don't think they have won more than 30 games in 2 seasons with Brand putting up 20/10). But you compete with good but you have to win with great. Tyson Chandler, Eddy Curry, and Jay Williams have loads more potential than Elton Brand. If they can keep these guys around, they may just become a great team. Or they may not. But if you are so non-competitive for years, I would do the same kind of gambling too rather than stuck with good but ultimately not good enough. And to be fair, Krause has had no luck over the past four years. He has had six lottery picks, and no luck. He had the #1 pick in 1999, and was it a Tim Duncan or a Yao Ming? No, it was Elton Brand. And 2000 draft was a weak draft class, so he had to settle for Jamal Crawford at #8. Compare that to other drafts--this year we saw Chris Wilcox at #8, Amare Stoudemire at #9, and Caron Butler at #10. All three are better prospects than Crawford. And the Jay Williams pick did not translate into immediate success as anticipated. And for people saying that Krause rode Jordon to the championships, our GM, Dawson rode Hakeem too. And honestly, if we didn't get lucky with Yao, what made Rockets fans think that our future outlook is that more bright than the Bulls?
