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With no games in progress due to the coronavirus pandemic, everyone in the NBA has turned their attention to “The Last Dance,” the 10-part documentary series detailing Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls from 1997-98. The stories there are endless, but one in particular has received a lot of attention, especially after the first few episodes: credit and guilt.
How did the Bulls get to such great heights, and then why did it all fall apart? In the film, much of the blame fell on the late GM Jerry Krause, who was painted as the villain in the story. Let Charles Barkley tell the tale, however, the real reason the team broke up is that owner Jerry Reinsdorf didn’t want to spend the money necessary to keep them together.
Here’s Barkley on the Dan Patrick Show:
He did not take that apart. Anyone who thinks he is a fool. That thing was orchestrated by Jerry Reinsdorf. The notion that [Jerry Krause] Broke Bulls is silly and absurd. If you go back and look at it and use common sense, just use common sense. Jerry Reinsdorf separated the Bulls because he didn’t want to pay anyone.
If you think about it, he let Horace Grant go because he became a free agent and didn’t want to pay him. They probably won’t talk about it in the documentary. So he left and went to Orlando. He only paid Michael the past two years. When she had Michael on a bargain, she was happy. So I didn’t want to pay Michael. He paid you for the past two years. I had Scottie on a great deal. That’s the reason the Bulls broke, strictly for money.
But to try and make Jerry Krause the bad guy, I thought he was too fake of Jerry Reinsdorf.
There is no doubt that Jordan was the main reason for the Bulls’ success; They don’t earn anything without it. But Krause deserves credit for building a stellar team around him, and that hasn’t been as bright as perhaps it should be. As our own James Herbert pointed out in his defense of Krause, the thorny executive pulled out a series of key moves to build a title team around Jordan.
However, the irony was that Krause never ended up gaining as much respect or admiration as he wanted for the work he did behind the scenes was a key factor in the group that later broke up. As he infamously said, “Players and coaches don’t win championships; organizations win championships.” That belief, as well as Krause’s difficult personality, helped destroy his relationship with Jordan, Scottie Pippen and coach Phil Jackson.
Now, as he is not here to defend himself, he is being used to paint him as the lead architect behind everyone breaking up after Season 98. And there is no doubt that he was largely responsible, but as Barkley points out, he was not acting. alone. The frugal way Reinsdorf runs the club remains a common complaint from Bulls fans, and was no different in the 1990s.
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