6 championships! He ruined Jordan's Bulls dynasty
The Chicago Bulls held an honor ring party at home to pay tribute to those who have made outstanding contributions to the Bulls! Phil Jackson, Ron Harper, Kukoc, Luke Longley, Stasse King, Cole and many other Bulls celebrities came to the scene. It's a pity that the "Bulls Iron Triangle" Jordan, Pippen, and Rodman did not show up.
This was supposed to be an event for the Bulls to give back to the fans and pay tribute to the celebrities, but there was a controversial scene at the scene: when the tribute video of former Bulls general manager Jerry Krauss was played, the Bulls fans at the scene booed, and Klaus's widow Thelma cried bitterly. Kerr bluntly said after the game that this behavior of the fans is shameful.
Klaus, who passed away on March 22, 2017, was one of the founders of the Bulls dynasty and helped the Bulls win six championships. It's been more than six years since the person died, and many fans today have never heard of this name, why are Bulls fans so malicious to Klaus?
In April 2020, the Jordan documentary "The Last Dance" was officially released, and in the first two episodes, Klaus appeared as a "villain". It was the 1997 offseason, and Klaus intended to rebuild the Bulls, telling Phil Jackson, "Even if you win 82 straight regular seasons, this is your last season with the Bulls!"
At that time, Jordan publicly stated on several occasions that he would not play for a coach other than Phil Jackson. In the 1997 offseason, Klaus also planned to trade Pippen for rookie Maddie, but Jordan got the news early and vetoed the deal. In November 1997, Pippen and Kraus broke out over the contract extension issue and publicly requested a trade.
Although Pippen later returned to the team, that Bulls team was about to fall apart. In 1998, the Bulls won the championship again, Jordan retired, and Phil Jackson, Pippen and Rodman left the team. After Jordan's documentary aired, Magic Johnson said in an interview: "I think Klaus ruined a dynasty and the Bulls could have won more championships. ”
In the eyes of many Bulls fans, Klaus is the culprit who destroyed the Bulls dynasty. Heat legend Tim Hardaway said: "There are two sides to everything, Klaus is dead, he's not here, there's no way to defend himself. Nobody knows what's going on behind the scenes, you say that, he says that, and it never works. ”
From 1985 to 2003, Kraus was the general manager of the Bulls, and there were many successful operations: 1. Bringing in Turks Winter and Phil Jackson to implement the triangle offense, 2. Selecting Horace Grant and Pippen in 1987 (through trade), 3. Selecting Kukoc in 1990, and 4. Rodman in 1995.
In the post-Jordan era, Klaus has had a lot of bad moves: 1. Trade Artest and Brad Miller for Jalen Rose, 2. Trade Elton Brand for Tyson Chandler. Klaus wanted to build a team around Chandler and Eddie Curry and was doomed. Then look at Atay, Brad Miller and Brand, all of whom became All-Stars.
What memories do you have of Klaus?