Page "Jerry Krause" Paragraph 9

Krause made another transaction in 1988 to which Jordan strongly objected.

It was clear that the Bulls needed a center if they were to contend for a title, so Krause dealt Charles Oakley to New York for Bill Cartwright.

Oakley, who happened to be Jordan's best friend on the team, was extremely tough, particularly on the boards and on defense.

When the Pistons came after Jordan with their physical players, Oakley was his bodyguard.

Cartwright was a true center, unlike the power forward Oakley, but was much older.

Although Cartwright did not have Oakley's reputation as a lockdown defender, he was very effective at preventing opposing centers from dominating games, and was a more capable inside scorer.

Jordan despised the trade, not only because of the players involved but also because of how they learned of it: via television, while he and Oakley were on their way to Las Vegas to see a Mike Tyson fight.

Cartwright turned out to be everything the Bulls needed, however, providing a presence in the middle for all three Bulls championships from 1991-1993.

Perhaps most importantly, Cartwright proved to be the league's best center at defending Patrick Ewing, the New York Knicks ' star who was the key player on the Bulls ' most important early-1990s conference rival.

Jordan later admitted that he may have been wrong and Krause may have been right about the trade, but it changed nothing about Jordan's overall distrust and hatred for Krause.

These feelings came to the surface in many different ways, including Jordan nicknaming Krause " Crumbs " in reference to his morbid obesity and slovenly appearance.

One of the most notable ways was demonstrated in the 1992 Olympics, when the Dream Team, including Jordan and Pippen, took on Croatia for the gold medal.

The Croatia team featured Toni Kukoč, a young star whom Krause had discovered through European contacts and was courting to a degree that some of the Bulls found annoying.

Jordan biographer David Halberstam said that Jordan and Pippen " seemed to play against Kukoc as if they had a vendetta ", and that " in the end, it was as if they had been playing not against Kukoc but against Krause.

" Jordan would later be quoted as saying: " The trade of Oakley was good, and the best thing he did was to get Pippen and Grant.

That's it.

His claim to fame is that he drafted Earl Monroe for the Bullets.

And I say to him, ' What pick was that?

' He says, ' Two.

' And I say, ' Hell!

Earl Monroe was a real secret, huh?

A real secret?

If you hadn't taken him, he'd have gone third!

'"