Krause's rough-and-tumble run with Bulls comes to end

The pressure has been building for the past five seasons from everywhere, including internally. So Monday morning, Jerry Krause resigned as executive vice president of the Chicago Bulls.

Jerry Krause had a big role in putting together the Bulls' championship teams.(AP)

The timing is stunning for Krause. But in his fifth season of rebuilding the team after its run of six championships ended in 1998, Krause had put on considerable weight, and it had began to affect his health.

In a statement released by the Bulls, Krause said, "The rigors and stress of the job have caused me some minor physical problems in the past few years. Those problems can be eliminated if I lessen my load for a while and concentrate on overcoming them."

Krause, 64, was hired in 1985 to replace Rod Thorn, who became executive vice president of the NBA after drafting Michael Jordan. Krause was credited with building a championship-caliber team around Jordan, particularly in the 1987 draft, when he swapped positions with the Seattle SuperSonics and turned those picks into Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant. He hired Doug Collins to coach, then replaced him with assistant Phil Jackson, who has since tied Red Auerbach with nine NBA titles, the most in NBA history.

But Krause was also the subject of non-stop criticism from players, and Jackson in particular, before the championship run stopped after the 1998 season.

Jordan was at odds with Krause from the time he replaced Thorn. When Jordan was coming off a fracture in his foot, Krause made him toe the line when it came to limiting his minutes during rehabilitation, infuriating the hyper-competitive star.

From that point on, Krause was a target for Jordan. He nicknamed him "Crumbs" because he was overweight and always seemed to have doughnut crumbs on his sport jacket when he was on the team bus. There was a constant barrage of taunts from the back of the bus. Krause's reaction often was to tell the world that the heart of the Bulls was in the team vision, not Jordan, which nobody but Krause seemed to believe.

And when he signed European star Toni Kukoc in 1993 after drafting him in the second round three years earlier, Krause's ego blew out of control.

The problem became more apparent once Jordan began a 20-month retirement in the wake of his father's sudden death in 1993 and a desire to give baseball a try. The Bulls struggled to win 55 and 47 games in the next two seasons; Grant left in a huff for Orlando as a free agent in the summer of '94. The Houston Rockets won consecutive titles, despite Jordan's returning late in the '95 season. The Bulls were eliminated in the second round in both postseasons.

Krause responded to the loss of Grant and the return of Jordan by bringing in obstreperous Dennis Rodman, sharp-shooter Steve Kerr, and broken down but still wily and talented Ron Harper. The Bulls began another string of three consecutive titles in 1996.

A 16-year scout and special assistant in baseball before joining the Bulls, Krause was often perceived as taking himself too seriously. As one general manager said: "Krausie goes into the closet just to change his mind."

Nonetheless, most basketball people enjoyed his love for the game and obsession with winning. It was just difficult to distinguish between his decisions, ego and what Bulls and White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf wanted -- hence the embattled life between the Chicago media and "the two Jerrys."

It all came to a head when the Bulls were bearing down on their sixth and final title. Jackson wanted a contract extension, but Krause had made it clear he was ready to hire his fishing buddy -- Iowa State coach Tim Floyd -- and Jordan and Pippen said they wanted out if Jackson was leaving.

So the Jerry and Jerry essentially blew up the whole team and brought in Floyd, and the Bulls were a stunning 49-190 until he was fired in December, giving way to Bill Cartwright. Krause's approach -- like drafting eventual rookie of the year Elton Brand from Duke, then trading him two seasons later for the right to draft high school sensation Tyson Chandler after he had taken local prep star Eddy Curry moments earlier -- drew more ire. He traded for the rights to point guard Jamal Crawford, then drafted another point guard, Jay Williams, two years later.

His big trade with the Indiana Pacers last season -- Brad Miller, Ron Artest, Ron Mercer and Kevin Ollie for Jalen Rose and Travis Best -- stirred more controversy.

But things had gotten better this season with Curry and Chandler blossoming, Crawford coming into his own a little bit, and the signing of veteran Donyell Marshall to support Rose as a veteran up front. The Bulls enter the last 10 days of the season 27-40, but with an impressive 24-14 home record -- the 3-36 mark on the road still a reflection of their youth.

Now they're looking at a fourth consecutive trip to the lottery, but it's hard to fathom what will happen without "Crumbs" calling the shots.

Nevertheless, that's precisely what happened when Krause was hired 18 years ago.

"It is only fair to the players and staff that (chairman) Jerry Reinsdorf be able to select my successor as soon as possible prior to the draft," Krause added in the statement, "just as he did with me on March 26, 1985."