Krause passes on MJ's induction

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Former Chicago Bulls general manager Jerry Krause said he is not at Michael Jordan's Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Friday because the Hall has not inducted Tex Winter.

"Michael's the greatest player who ever played a team sport," Krause said in a phone interview. "He's given me and my family and everyone who has been associated with the Bulls everything. We all benefited from Michael being there, and I'm happy for him and his special day.

"But the Hall of Fame thing is personal with me. I'm not walking back in there until Tex Winter is acknowledged."

Winter, 87, is recognized as the person who created the triangle offense. The Bulls used that offense on the six Jordan-led championship teams in the 1990s while Winter was an assistant coach.

"After Michael's fourth year, we put in the triangle offense," Krause said. "That allowed players within that offense to post up and get isolations.

"Michael didn't have a post-up move at the time, so that summer he worked his butt off to learn how to post up a player. He worked so hard that he became an unstoppable offensive force, and also a better defensive player because he didn't have to use as much energy on offense to score."

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Bruce Levine | email

Chicago baseball beat reporter

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Bruce Levine has covered sports in Chicago for over 28 years and hosts "Talkin' Baseball," heard Saturday mornings on ESPN 1000.