Last night, at the game between Bulls and Warriors, Chicago honored the 1995-96 season team with the Ring of Honor, a ceremony at which (almost) all the members of that roster were present. Missing were the main ones: Michael Jordan, who sent a video message, Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman. Instead, everyone else was there: from Phil Jackson to Steve Kerr (coach and opponent with Golden State), from Toni Kukoc to Ron Harper.
The event had begun yesterday with a gala dinner at the United Center and continued tonight with a mini-ceremony during halftime in front of the fans. The fans, indeed, or at least some of them, booed Jerry Krause when he was mentioned, while representing him was his widowed wife, who started crying. Krause, who died in 2017, was the GM of the Bulls who dominated the NBA for a decade, both architect of Chicago’s success and its destroyer since it was his clash with Jackson and Jordan that ended the dynasty.
This has to be one of the more embarrassing moments in Chicago sports. Jerry Krause, whatever you think of how the Bulls dynasty ended, built a six-time champion. Worthy of this honor ten fold. Disgraceful to boo while his distraught widow watches on pic.twitter.com/vwTa7QgOmp
– Chris Mannix (@SIChrisMannix) January 13, 2024
The booing of a person no longer present, however, infuriated Steve Kerr, who said in a press conference after his Warriors beat the Bulls: “The fans who booed comment on themselves. For me it was shameful and I am devastated.”.
Also of the same mind was another former Bulls, Stacey King: “Chicago is a city of sports, what we saw today, with the fans booing Jerry Krause while his widow was accepting honors for him, was the worst thing I’ve ever seen.”.