Five previous NBA championships constructed by Jerry Krause with the Chicago Bulls were conveniently set aside to be able to produce a dramatic “The Last Dance” documentary regarding a sixth title finish in 1997-98 that, along the way, maligned the legacy of Krause, a Hall of Famer himself.
Krause was egoistic and boastful, that’s true. But we’re not players Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman and even the The Zen Master head coach Phil Jackson also egoistic and boastful, if not arrogant? I mean being egoistic is good when it concerns the quartet but bad in the case of Krause?
Though the Bulls secured Pippen’s services, he was really an unknown commodity even as he was picked No. 5 overall in the 1987 NBA draft by the Seattle SuperSonics whose draft rights were immediately shipped to Chicago).
The 6-7 forward came from a little-known NCAA Division II school (University of Central Arkansas, a public university) and nobody really thought he could be THAT good down the road as Jordan’s Robin.
Jordan had had three years of NBA experience before Pippen came in. And it took Jordan seven long years before earning first title ring in 1991?
What if Krause did not engineer a trade with the Sonics (now the Oklahoma City Thunder) in 1987 to secure Pippen’s services? Did the tactical decision by Krause not mean anything?
By the way, when Pippen started to look for big money, it was all in the pockets of Jordan (at least $30 million in each of three seasons from 1995-98 and concluding with $33 million in 1997-98).
Fair is fair. Immortalize Jordan in “The Last Dance” but not at the expense of other people.
For sure, Jordan could not have done it alone. He needed Pippen.
Besides, no one, not even Jordan, is greater than the team. And the last time I checked, team is still composed of players, coaching staff, team officials, team executives, team owner and the team ball boys and statisticians. Each of them has a role to play. To wit, they won as ONE.
Young athletes who were not yet born in the 1980s through the 1990s may now tend to entertain the notion that challenging persons of authority on a basketball or any sports team – even derisively discrediting them in public – is the right thing to do simply because Jordan did so in the past and his popularity then triggered his followers to accept it hook, line and sinker.
There are ways to vent your displeasure but not publicly. Go through the proper channels.
That’s why current NBA rules penalize players who wash their dirty linen in public (seeking trades or criticizing teammates or team officials).
Just my thoughts. We can agree to disagree.
Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Bandera. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.