Jerry Krause told Metta World Peace that he wanted to claim a 7th title to help him wipe out the 6 that Michael Jordan and company won.
There’s no question that players make the league. GMs can do all the scouting they want but at the end of the day, the Chicago Bulls 3-peated twice because they had Michael Jordan at its reins. However, this isn’t to say that guys like Jerry Krause do not deserve any credit. It was this motivation that perhaps fueled his desire to win a 7th title, without Jordan.
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After getting Chicago its 6th championship in 1998, Michael Jordan hung up his Bulls jersey and retired for the second time in his career. Confident that he would not return, Jerry Krause stayed on board to help build yet another title contending team. One of the first orders of business was to draft Ron Artest, a player who later came to be known as Metta World Peace.
Though his offensive repertoire wasn’t all too glamorous, it is clear from the jump that he was going to be a solid piece for the rebuilding Bulls. Jerry Krause took notice of this and confided in him as well.
Jerry Krause wanted to erase the previous 6 championships with a 7th one.
Metta World Peace recently appeared on Shannon Sharpe’s ‘Club Shay Shay’ to talk about the recent ‘Malice at the Palace’ documentary. He eventually delved into his short stint with the Chicago Bulls, the team that drafted him in 1999.
“I wanted to win a title here. And I remember Jerry Krause, he was saying, ‘Ron, we’re going to get number 7, and we’re going to wipe out the other 6’. Now, I don’t want to wipe out the other six; I just want to get number 7,” said Metta.
It’s obvious that Krause still had some pent-up resentment towards Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and the lot. After all, he did assemble them all together and what he got in return was nothing but disdain from his players.
