When discussing basketball executives, the individuals behind the great dynasties that dominated for years due to their vision and basketball expertise, two names stand out above all others: Red Auerbach and Jerry Krause.
Both were ahead of their time — first Red, and then Jerry — who came along a few years later. Each started very young in the world of trades and player scouting, and at one point, Red wanted to make a deal with Jerry.
Krause backed out of the deal with Auerbach
It was Krause’s first year with the Chicago Bulls when Auerbach called him on the morning of the draft to offer Sam Vincent in exchange for a second-round pick. Vincent was a dominant high school player, the one who broke the record for most points in a game with 61, previously held by none other than Magic Johnson for Lansing’s Eastern High School, and Jerry immediately suspected that Red was up to something.
Just a few hours before the draft, the Bulls GM started calling around, and everyone told him the same thing – Vincent was a good player. Ultimately, Krause backed out of the deal.
“I was scared of Auerbach,” Krause recalled on “The Vertical Podcast with Woj.” “Auerbach had beaten so many people, so badly, in trades that I was afraid of him. I hoped I could get that same respect, but certainly, he had that respect from me, and I wouldn’t go into a deal with him. I was too afraid to deal with Red.”
Red was always thinking outside the box
Auerbach was certainly a name that inspired fear and respect. At just 32 years old, he took over as the head coach of the Celtics and completely changed the franchise’s mentality. For years, he drafted wisely and made shrewd trades until everything came together in 1957 with an NBA championship. From there, he continued to win, collecting nine titles over a 10-year span.
However, that wasn’t the end. When Bill Russell retired and it seemed like Boston would struggle to repeat its success from the ’60s and ’70s, Auerbach, now as the Boston GM, quickly adapted and built another championship team around Larry Bird, winning three more rings. In total, he finished with seven titles as an executive, nearly matching his coaching record.
What set Red apart was his ability to always think outside the box. By appointing Russell as Boston’s player-coach and eventual successor, he spared a revolution in the league as Bill became the first African American head coach in history to win an NBA title.
Krause simply sensed that Auerbach was up to something
Beyond that, Red created what became known as the “Celtics family culture”, consistently hiring former Boston players as coaches, people who deeply understood his philosophy and vision.
In addition to years of innovative draft selections, Auerbach’s most famous move came in 1980 when he traded the first overall pick for Robert Parish and the third overall pick, which turned out to be Kevin McHale. Red could’ve easily drafted Kevin first overall, but he knew that pairing him with Robert would form the strongest frontcourt duo in the league – exactly what Larry needed to push the Celtics over the hump.
Auerbach was simply ahead of his time, and Krause, still a young executive who would later become one of the best ever, sensed that something was off; it didn’t make sense that Red would give away a good player for just a second-round pick.
Jerry was the closest thing to Red in terms of a basketball executive
In that moment, Krause showed remarkable intelligence by not giving in to the pressure of the most powerful man in the league at the time. Auerbach’s authority could have easily intimidated the young GM into accepting the deal, maybe hoping to build a good relationship for future deals.
The rest is history. Those were the final days of Auerbach’s dominance with the Celtics, while Krause soon established himself and took complete control of building the Bulls roster. Around Michael Jordan, he constructed a team that went on to win six championships and six NBA Finals.
Jerry’s masterpiece with the Bulls of the 90s was perhaps the closest thing to Red’s Celtics dynasty of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. It was, in many ways, a passing on the torch moment – Bird and Auerbach faded from the scene, Krause and Jordan took the league by storm.