Booing Jerry Krause During Ring of Honor Ceremony Was Bulls Fans’ Lowest Moment
Chicago sports in general are in a very bad place right now. Not one major franchise is expected to contend for a championship anytime soon, and fans are beyond fed up. They tweet, call into sports radio, vent to their friends and do whatever else gets other people to listen to them.
But as easy as it is to be critical of the present and apparent lack of a promising future, it’s even easier to complain about past misdeeds. The breakup of the Bulls’ dynasty remains a very sore spot for Chicagoans, and they’ve never forgiven or forgotten those who were behind it. Ironically, it was the same men who built those championship teams: Jerry Reinsdorf and Jerry Krause.
So when Krause was named to the Bulls’ inaugural Ring of Honor class, more than a few fans surely were uncomfortable. However, nobody knew the extent of that discomfort until it was time to introduce Krause during the ceremony held at halftime of the Bulls’ game against the Steve Kerr-led Golden State Warriors.
As soon as Krause’s picture was flashed on the United Center scoreboard, Bulls fans held nothing back. They loudly booed as if the late general manager was there all by himself.
In fact, it was Krause’s widow Thelma at the ceremony on his behalf, and the emotion on her face over what was happening couldn’t have been more clear. That she was receiving sympathetic shoulder rubs at the moment had to have been of little consolation.
There never has been a real reason for universal criticism for Bulls fans until now. This is not to say Krause doesn’t deserve heat for his role in the dynasty’s breakup, but this absolutely was the wrong time to express feelings over that. While the Bulls might have avoided this by letting everyone know ahead of time that Krause’s wife would be there, that doesn’t let the fans off the hook.
This is not about what Krause put together and then tore down. This is about a man, a fellow human being, being afforded a honor that only a select few will have. Whether you think Krause deserves it or not, he has a banner inside the United Center for building six championship teams. It would be weird if he wasn’t included in this first Ring of Honor class, especially with Reinsdorf still around.
Still, Bulls fans couldn’t swallow their pride for 15 seconds and at least give Krause a golf clap. As far as they were concerned, he and his family must be subjected to jeers, boos and catcalls forever. The Krause name equals shame in the Chicago sports world and deserves to be treated as such, including those who had nothing to do with what happened.
Shortly before my Catholic grammar school closed less than a year ago, I was included among its athletic association’s final Hall of Fame class for my eight years of service. During that time, I encountered a few people who weren’t my biggest fans. But none of that was nearly enough to deter the decision to induct me, and I received universal congratulations for my honor.
I’m not going to pretend that my role had anything near the same ramifications from being an NBA general manager. My point is I did far more good than bad during my tenure, and I was seen fit to be included among the other Hall of Famers. Krause is in the same boat when it comes to the legendary players and coaches in Bulls history. He worked, and he got results, at least for most of his time with the team.
We Chicago sports fans like to think we’re above the critical and boorish ones in New York and Philadelphia. It’s extremely hard to support that claim though when Krause’s widow is brought to tears by a sold-out arena’s booing. It’s no wonder we’re getting lumped in with those other two cities’ fans more and more.
This was without question Bulls Nation’s worst moment. If it wasn’t bad enough, it happened with the opponent being the NBA’s model franchise over the past decade. That meant a lot of their fans, or at least fans of their star players, were in the building, and now, they know we’re not as great as has often be said. We have no one to blame but ourselves for it, and it had to have at least been a contributing factor to the Warriors coming back from a double-digit halftime deficit and winning.
We don’t deserve to have anything nice happen to us after this. Be happy with those six championships because nobody of note will want anything to do with this organization once they see what happens when they don’t get everything right. That means those six banners will stay at six. If you don’t like all of this old nostalgia, you might as well just get used to it now.
We’ve been disgraced, and again, we did it to ourselves.
