During halftime of the Chicago Bulls' 140-131 loss to the Golden State Warriors, the team commemorated its 72-win 1995-96 squad by holding the franchise's first-ever Ring of Honor ceremony. Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf during the festivities, lamented the fact that the late Jerry Krause, the executive who put together the six Bulls teams that won championships in the 1990s who unfortunately passed away in 2017, could not be there in attendance as they celebrated one of the most remarkable feats in NBA history.

Upon Reinsdorf's mention of Krause's name, however, the United Center faithful erupted into boos. This was then seen by the NBA world as a disrespectful act, especially with Krause's widow, Thelma, in attendance. Even Stacey King, who was part of the first three-peat winning iteration of the team and is now the analyst on the Bulls' broadcast on NBC Sports Chicago, ripped into this behavior of Bulls fans.

In the aftermath of the hullabaloo, the Bulls owner's son, president and CEO Michael Reinsdorf, came ardently towards Jerry Krause's defense, with the Bulls owner giving a statement to NBC Sports Chicago that his “legacy deserves to be celebrated and respected.”

“Jerry Krause is a six-time NBA champion and two-time NBA Executive of the Year. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame for his accomplishments and is an incredible part of our history. His legacy deserves to be celebrated and respected,” Reinsdorf said, per K.C. Johnson.

Indeed, it's a marvelous feat for the late former Bulls executive to be the architect behind two versions of the team that won three straight championships. Sure, Krause had Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen to build around, but he always seemed to acquire the right pieces that worked well in Phil Jackson's system.

Alas, the Last Dance documentary has sullied Krause's reputation immensely. Both Jordan and Pippen were notorious for disliking Krause, and this disdain seems to have affected how fans view the late executive's legacy nowadays.

But beyond Krause's beef with Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, he was also responsible for pivoting to a rebuild. As one would recall, Krause wanted to pull the trigger on a Bulls rebuild for quite some time even before the team's last dance, and when he finally got the chance to build the team from the ground up, it did not quite work according to plan. Chicago wouldn't make the postseason for six seasons in the aftermath of Krause's teardown.

Nonetheless, it's not in the best of tastes to boo someone who is an important figure in the franchise's history, especially when that man has passed away.