Kerr called Bulls fans’ behavior absolutely shameful and was sorry for the late Krause’s wife, Thelma, who had to experience it.


Credit AP Photo/Paul Beaty – Scanpix

 

Before Friday’s game against the Golden State Warriors, the Chicago Bulls held a Ring of Honor ceremony for the legendary 1995-95 Bulls team. One man – the late former Bulls GM Jerry Krause – was booed by the local fans.

 

Krause was represented by his widow, Thelma, who accepted the award for Krause. The woman was visibly shaken and moved to tears by the fans’ reaction. After the game, the former Bulls guard and now head coach of the Warriors, Steve Kerr, was irate about Krause’s reception.

“I didn’t hear it, I was in the locker room, but somebody just told me about it, and I it’s shameful, it’s absolutely shameful. I cannot believe [it]. I’m devastated for Thelma and for the Krause family. What can we possibly be thinking?” Kerr said in the post-game press conference.

Krause was the architect of the Bulls dynasty that won six NBA titles in the 1990s. However, Krause was the one who dismantled the team after the 1998 Finals against the Utah Jazz, as he was adamant that head coach Phil Jackson should leave the team regardless of the season’s result.

Following the Finals win, 35-year-old Michael Jordan retired, while Jackson moved to the Los Angeles Lakers, where he won multiple titles.


“You have to understand – when you hear boos, it’s not all of them. The fans who booed, they know who they are. To me, it’s absolutely shameful, and I’m devastated by that. What are we doing? Whether people liked Jerry or not, whether they disagreed with the decision to move on, whatever it is, we’re here to celebrate that team. Jerry did an amazing job building that team,” Kerr said.

“Tonight, and last night, was all about the joy and love that that team shared with the city, and I’m so disappointed with the fans. I want to be specific – there are lots of fans, I’m sure, who didn’t boo. Those who booed – they should be ashamed,” the coach concluded.

Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and Dennis Rodman did not attend the ceremony.