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Roland Lazenby, writing on HoopsHype, tells of the man who put together some of the best teams in basketball history. Michael Jordan reportedly never really liked Krause, and Jordan's view of the world has had a tendency to become the NBA's view of the world. But you can't knock the results Krause got. And I can't help but wonder if Jordan the basketball executive might have more respect for Jerry Krause than Jordan the player had:

It's unlikely that Krause will ever join the other two in the Hall of Fame, but if he does, the display might well be a huge set of cojones.

Jordan, you may recall, was the most intimidating presence in the history of the game, on and off the court. That was his gift and his curse, all rolled into one. It was his gift because he rode that Alpha Male nature to the heights of the sport, scaring everybody in his path along the way. The curse was that his talent transformed those around him into fawning groupies and sycophants. Everywhere Jordan turned, he encountered people eager to tell him what he wanted to hear.

Even Jackson, hugely intimidating in his own right, chose his words carefully and stepped softly around His Airness.

Krause, on the other hand, charged right in like the bull that he was, cocksure in his own view of things.

Krause was the one who just knew the Cinderella Bulls had to have Bill Cartwright to upgrade their center play with smarts and toughness. So he traded away Charles Oakley, Jordan's dear friend and partner in crime, to get Cartwright. It was just one of several Krause acts that Jordan never forgave.

"We didn't win until we got Bill Cartwright," Krause told me in a long conversation a few months back. "People today don't realize how good Bill Cartwright was."

Cartwright was the key to the Bulls' first three championships from 1991-93, Krause said.

"Then the second group of three (1996-98) started when we got Dennis (Rodman). Without Dennis, we wouldn't have done that."

Jordan signed off on the Rodman acquisition, but there were plenty of other times Krause didn't hesitate to run afoul of the team's star.

Jordan lobbied hard for the drafting of Joe Wolf, a University of North Carolina star. Krause ignored him and drafted Horace Grant, another key in Chicago's long, strange run of success.

Since the glory of his playing days ended, Jordan has struggled to find success and happiness in the game he virtually owned as a Bull.

(Via Docksquad Sports)