The contentious relationship between Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls General Manager at the time, Jerry Krause has been a widely discussed topic in the NBA. Netflix’s The Last Dance showed how Krause was almost ‘hated’ by the Bulls players led by Jordan. NBA legends like Isiah Thomas have called out the disrespectful behavior against one of the most important members of the organization. However, Jordan and Co.’s disagreements with Krause stemmed from a lot of valid reasons, which included pay disputes and trade decisions.
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For instance, MJ was not happy with his eight-year $25,000,000 contract in the early 90s. The deal barely did any justice to the amount of revenue His Airness generated not only for the Chicago Bulls but for other teams as well. Scottie Pippen was also someone who was criminally underpaid for the majority of his career.
Therefore, Jordan tried to veto Krause’s proposal to sign a well-compensated Tony Kukoc to the team. This would probably be considered crossing the line in the league at the time, but Krause actually liked the arrogant attitude that allowed Jordan to put his foot down.
Jerry Krause thought MJ’s arrogance was a positive thing
Michael Jordan’s reputation as a ruthless competitor is well-documented in the NBA history books. His tendency to antagonize his opponents to gain an edge over them was well-known among his peers. Therefore, talking trash to the six-time NBA Champion was pretty much a death sentence for any player in the court.
This kind of obsession to prove himself to be the very best exuded a kind of arrogance in Jordan. Quite surprisingly, Krause thought this arrogant aura surrounding the Bulls centerpiece was beneficial for the team. In this clip posted by clutchtime on Instagram(via @wojespn), Jerry Krause could be seen talking about Jordan’s arrogance, “Very few people that I’ve ever known, who had a drive in ’em like Michael [Jordan] had…The arrogance he carried with him was a plus because he knew he could do things other people couldn’t do.”
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“I will say one thing about Michael Jordan to this day and forever, he never came to me and asked for other players…part of it was he thought he was so darn good, he could win without ’em,” the Bulls GM added. While Krause definitely has a fair point about Jordan’s arrogance, many fans have taken the ‘never…asked for other players’ part with a grain of salt. Because that could very well be Krause trying to take sole credit for the Championship-bound Bulls rosters he facilitated.
Michael Jordan did veto a Scottie Pippen trade
The Tony Kukoc trade went through in 1993 despite Jordan’s reservations about it. However, Michael Jordan did stop the Bulls from trading Scottie Pippen for Tracy McGrady.
Jordan knew how crucial Pippen was in his Championship campaigns and even threatened retirement to retain him. Therefore, Krause’s remarks seem a little dubious in the face of contradicting evidence.
