9. Hired Doug Collins
After a disappointing 1985-86 campaign that saw the Bulls go 30-52, Krause fired head coach Stan Albeck after just one season and hired Doug Collins as his replacement. Collins had a respectable playing career in the NBA but minimal credentials as a coach when Krause hired him. He served briefly as an assistant coach for the University of Pennsylvania and Arizona State. That’s it. But Krause saw potential, and took a risk.
That risk paid off. Under Collins, the Bulls saw 10-win improvements in each of the next two seasons. In 1988, they beat the heavily favored Cavaliers in the first round of the playoffs. The following season, they knocked off Cleveland and New York to reach the conference finals for the first time since 1975. Collins would be replaced by his assistant Phil Jackson after three seasons in charge, and it was Jackson who went on to coach all six of the title teams. But were it not for Krause taking a chance on the unproven Collins, the young Bulls may not have taken those necessary steps towards becoming legitimate contenders.
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