3. Hired Tex Winter
Hiring Tex Winter is the second-best decision Krause made regarding his coaching staff. It’s also one of the first moves he ever made running the Bulls. Jerry got the job in March of ’85, and hired Tex as an assistant coach just a few months later.
Krause and Winter went way back, to the ’60s when Winter was the coach at Kansas State and Krause was a student assistant at Bradley University. That’s the first time Jerry saw Tex’s infamous “triangle” offense.
“I liked what Tex did. I thought, ‘Boy, if he ever got good players that offense would be something.’ ” – Jerry Krause
Even while Krause spent time as a baseball scout, he still kept in touch with Winter. Winter would go on to briefly coach the Houston Rockets (51-78 record) before returning to the collegiate level at Northwestern and Long Beach State.
When Krause called him in ’85, Winter hadn’t coached in two years and was contemplating retirement. But the giddy little kid who was enamored with the triangle offense was now running an NBA team, and he wanted to see Tex teach his craft to the Bulls’ young roster. It took time, and the right head coach, but Winter’s offensive system became a key to Chicago’s dynasty. When Jordan, Pippen and their sidekicks ran it to perfection, it wasn’t basketball. It was art.
It remains the most complicated offense in basketball, and not everybody can pull it off. Just ask Phil Jackson, whose Knicks have failed to grasp the triangle’s intricacies for several seasons. Sadly, he can’t call his buddy Tex for help. The master of the triangle suffered a stroke in 2009 that left him severely disabled.
Winter deservedly entered the Hall of Fame in 2011. He’ll go down as one of the best minds and teachers in basketball, and Krause is the guy who brought him to Chicago.
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