Breaking and tragic news hit the Bulls community on Tuesday afternoon. Jerry Krause, former general manager and architect of both threepeat teams from the 1990s, has passed away at age 77. The Chicago Tribune’s K.C. Johnson was the first to report the news.
Jerry Krause, GM of the Bulls for their six title teams, passed away this afternoon at age 77, a member of the family told the Tribune. RIP
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) March 21, 2017
Krause engineered several of the moves that made those Bulls teams virtually unbeatable for the better part of a decade. He landed Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant in the same draft. He made the trades to acquire Bill Cartwright and Dennis Rodman, two invaluable pieces to the frontcourt in the first and second threepeats, respectively. In addition, it was Krause’s international scouting ability that brought Toni Kukoc to the NBA from Croatia. Back in the early ’90s, international players weren’t often scouted because most traditional scouts and GMs didn’t believe in their NBA potential. But Krause knew Kukoc had something special, and The Waiter proved invaluable for the team’s championships in ’96, ’97 and ’98.
Krause has been on the ballot for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame for several years, but still hasn’t gotten the call. Most pundits in the NBA world consider his omission the greatest blunder in the history of the Hall. He is on the ballot again this year in the contributor category.
Rest in peace, Jerry. And thanks for those championship caliber rosters.
