The Chicago Bulls used Friday night’s game against the Golden State Warriors as an opportunity to celebrate the inaugural class for the franchise’s Ring of Honor. This included the entire 1995-96 Bulls team that went 72-10, and while several members of the team did not make it, there were plenty of individuals who were part of that legendary squad in attendance.
The late Jerry Krause, who served as the general manager for those Bulls teams, was represented by his family. But unfortunately, Krause is a divisive figure among fans, and when it came time to celebrate him, those in attendance booed to the point that his wife, Thelma, was moved to tears.
Bulls fans Boo’ing Jerry Krause while his family is in attendance pic.twitter.com/RjDX3HKuNa
— Alex (@Dubs408) January 13, 2024
It’s really hard to watch, and as the game came back from halftime, Bulls broadcaster Stacey King remarked on the incident. King called out the fans who booed, saying that it was “the worst thing I’ve ever seen in my life” and that “whoever booed here in this arena should be ashamed of themselves.”
Stacey King starts out the third quarter by calling out the fans who booed Thelma Krause: pic.twitter.com/Pf08cxRaSf
— Steph Noh (@StephNoh) January 13, 2024
After the game, Warriors coach Steve Kerr — a member of the ’95-96 Bulls — echoed King’s sentiments, calling it “absolutely shameful.”
Steve Kerr was extremely disappointed in the Bulls fans who booed Jerry Krause’s name at halftime during the Ring of Honor ceremony. He called it “absolutely shameful.” pic.twitter.com/vgFSAsqbSK
— Cody Westerlund (@CodyWesterlund) January 13, 2024
Michael Reinsdorf, the team’s president and CEO, released a statement praising Krause and saying that the franchise was “incredibly honored” that Thelma was in attendance.
Bulls president and CEO Michael Reinsdorf gave this statement to @NBCSChicago about Jerry Krause pic.twitter.com/MqcoxKyhP2
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) January 13, 2024
One of the many things that was made clear in The Last Dance was that Michael Jordan — who was not in attendance for the ceremony — did not have an especially good relationship with Krause. Even now, there is a section on Krause’s Wikipedia page titled “Jordan’s criticism of Krause.” Still, this was all a bit much, and good on Kerr and King for calling it out.