Episodes three and four of ESPN’s “The Last Dance” documentary aired Sunday night. A majority of the fourth episode focused on the Bulls’ rivalry with the Detroit Pistons in the late 80s. Detailed was the hardships faced by the team building towards their first championship in 1991. One of the main reason’s why the Bulls became a dynasty outside of Michael Jordan was general manager Jerry Krause’s ability to scout talent.
Owner Jerry Reinsdorf hired Krause as the team’s general manager in 1985, with the main focus of building a competitive team around Jordan. The new general manager did just that in drafting forward Charles Oakley with the ninth overall selection in the 1985 NBA draft. Two years later, Krause would make the two most important draft-day decisions when he drafted power forward Horace Grant and traded for small forward Scottie Pippen in 1987.
Pippen, Grant, and Oakley would all go on to be All-Stars and prominent players in the NBA during the late 80s and 90s. Krause would also be able to find supporting players that were key in the team’s first three championships. Point guard John Paxson was the team’s first major free-agent signing during the Jordan era and would detrimental in the team’s first and third championships. Krause would later draft point guard B.J. Armstrong in 1989 as he would play a vital role as a starter/ sixth man for the Bulls until 1995.
Krause would continue to prove his worth for scouting talent as he found international talent in the early 1990s. He found and brought aboard Croatian forward Toni Kukoc in 1993. Kukoc would go on to be a key figure in the team’s second three-peat and was awarded the NBA’s Sixth Man award in 1996. Jordan and Pippen were the only two players on the team for all six championships. Krause replaced veteran role-players such as Paxson, Armstrong, and Bill Cartwright for Ron Harper, Steve Kerr, and Luc Longley.
It was in 1995 that Krause would make arguably his most controversial move when he traded for power forward Dennis Rodman. Many believe that Rodman would be more of a risk than a reward for Chicago, but Rodman proved critics wrong, becoming the team’s vital rebounder in the late 90s.
The legendary general manager wasn’t just good scouting player talent but finding coaching talent also. The two coaches Krause hired during the Jordan era were Doug Collins and Phil Jackson. Jackson is arguably the best coach in NBA history winning 11 championships, while Collins has won over 849 career games and has coached several teams to multiple playoff appearances.
The player and coaching talent found by Krause from 1985 to 1998 was the main reason why he was entrusted by Reinsdorf to dismantle the Bulls at the peak of their greatness. Outside of Bulls ownership, little knew just how good the general manager was at putting a winning teams together and around Jordan.
Some of the players brought on by Krause following the teardown of the dynasty include Elton Brand, Ron Artest, Jamal Crawford, Brad Miller, Jay Williams, Eddy Curry, and Tyson Chandler. All players would go on to be either All-Stars or prominent contributors in the NBA during the first decade of the 2000s.
Fans and the media can resent Krause for his decision to deconstruct the championship Bulls, but no one can argue against his ability to find talent. Although overshadowed by Pippen and Grant, the former general manager consistently found All-Star players and core role-players. Krause was out to prove that to the nay-sayers following the 1998 season, but unfortunately fell short in his quest.
