Sorting fact from friction

Krause, the Bulls general manager from 1985-2003, resigned from the Hall of Fame selection committee several years ago over a conflict with the selection process and vowed “not to go into the building’’ unless former Chicago assistant coach Tex Winter was inducted.

“I don’t have a great desire to be there,’’ Krause said.

Krause said he agreed with Bob Cousy, who objected to the secrecy of the process and absence of those he considered worthy candidates and resigned as chairman of the selection committee in the early ’90s.

But some friction remains in the Krause-Jordan relationship, in stark contrast with Krause’s feelings toward another inductee, Utah coach Jerry Sloan. In fact, Krause said he might be tempted to attend if he were contacted by Sloan, whom Krause scouted in his Baltimore Bullets days in the early ’60s.

“If Michael called, no,’’ Krause said. “If Jerry called me, that would be a tough one. But the answer is no.’’

Krause contends that Winter’s triangle offense was crucial to the success of the Bulls and also helped bring out the best in Jordan. In fact, Winter was a Phil Jackson assistant for all six of the Bulls’ NBA championships and for three of the Jackson’s NBA titles with the Lakers.

“I think when we hired Phil to be head coach and Tex was already there with the triangle, Michael found out he could score in ways he never dreamed of scoring,’’ Krause said. “Michael ended up being the best-scoring point guard ever.’’

Krause and Jordan sometimes disagreed on player acquisitions. Krause said Jordan wanted to select Joe Wolf in the ’87 draft, but the Bulls went with Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant.

“I did consult Michael and Scottie on [Dennis] Rodman,’’ Krause said. “I asked them if they had a big problem with it. But, no, they couldn’t have vetoed it.’’

Krause joined the Bulls during Jordan’s rookie season, replacing Rod Thorn as GM.

“We had Michael and 11 guys I didn’t want,’’ Krause said. “We didn’t know how good Michael was going to be - nobody knew. He improved year by year.’’

Krause was concerned that Jordan’s eagerness to play while injured could have deleterious effects. After Jordan broke his navicular bone in ’85, four doctors recommended he not play.

“Michael was very mad about it,’’ Krause said. “I told him, ‘I’m not going to let you play. You have a long career ahead of you and the navicular bone is the toughest to get blood to - very few athletes recover from that injury.’ He said I just cared about getting into the lottery and I said, ‘I care about your health.’ ’’

Krause wished the Bulls dynasty had a “happy family’’ image similar to the one created by Red Auerbach with the Celtics.

“We were not close, and we’re not close today,’’ Krause said of Jordan. “And that’s fine. I read [Bill] Russell on Red and it was a great book. We had the same success but not the same relationship.

“I don’t know if it was adversarial. We were both stubborn and both had our minds made up about the game. We would needle each other. I’d say, ‘That move last night, you’ve got a ways to go before you catch [Earl] Monroe.’ And he would say, ‘That [expletive] Monroe.’ After he retired the first time, I told him he was better than Monroe.

“He was a total professional in every sense. He really understood what it meant to be a professional. He could have been real difficult about contracts but he wasn’t.’’

Honoring one of Boston’s leading assist men

Hudson, an NBA referee from 1968-72, was among the founders of the Boston Neighborhood Basketball League and the Boston Shootout.

“Red Auerbach recommended me,’’ recalled Hudson of his start as an NBA referee. “He had watched me in the Boston area and thought I had a chance to be a referee. When I started, there were only two of us in the league. I made $100 a game and had an airline credit card for travel.’’

Jackie White was the league’s first black referee, Hudson the second.

“Being a referee gave me a platform to do things with young people,’’ Hudson said. “I got involved in different activities, the BNBL and the Shootout, working with good people willing to share their expertise and make a difference.’’

Hudson, the son of a Pittsburgh steelworker, resided in Boston from 1964-88, when he moved to Atlanta to become a vice president of marketing and development with Coca-Cola.

“People told me all the time Boston was a tough city, but I didn’t find it that difficult,’’ Hudson said. “I was about, ‘What can we do to make it better?’

“The Roxbury Boys & Girls Club is special. This is the 40th year of the BNBL. When it started, a group of us - Wayne Embry, Satch Sanders, Roscoe Baker, Ray Flynn, Alfreda Harris - got together. You had the busing situation going on and I was one of the few people of color going into South Boston and Hyde Park and the North End.

“We had a citywide league, and what made it successful was that we knew that if you did something in one neighborhood, you had to make sure to do it in the other neighborhoods.

“We communicated, and that was the main thing. With sports, we could communicate with each other.’’

Hudson calmed potentially tense situations with a combination of his diminutive stature (he is about 5 feet 5 inches) and unflagging optimism.

“All I wanted was for people to respect me and I respected them,’’ Hudson said. “I never allowed that negative stuff to enter into my thinking. I was about doing something positive. I came from an integrated neighborhood in Pittsburgh, so to me it was not difficult to interact with different nationalities in Boston.

“When I got to Boston, I knew two people - Sam Jones and Stacy Johnson, a retired school administrator. When I left - and I left kicking and screaming - most people thought I was born there. I still miss the city. It was very good to me and I hope I was good for Boston.’’

The Shootout began with a four-game, two-night program at Sargent Gym at Boston University in 1972. The motivation was to provide competition for the Boston Six, a group of high school players that included future NBA players Bob Carrington and Ronnie Lee.

“It was before the AAU and all the craziness,’’ Hudson said. “Little did we know Washington would bring in Adrian Dantley and New York had Phil Sellers, and that first night you couldn’t get in the gym. Every game was decided by 1 point.

“We decided to expand it, but never in my wildest dreams did I think it would grow to what it grew into, to having players like Bernard King, Patrick Ewing, Doc Rivers, Paul Pierce, and Baron Davis coming here.’’

Hudson was a basketball Zelig in Boston. He considered Auerbach a surrogate father. He worked with Bob Cousy and Bobby Orr.

“One time I asked Bill Russell what I could do to show my appreciation that he had been willing to assist me,’’ Hudson said. “And he told me to just reach out and help other people.’’

Etc.

Top Hall of Fame classes, based on talent and accomplishments:

1978 - Paul Arizin, Joe Fulks, Cliff Hagan, Jim Pollard

1990 - Dave Bing, Elvin Hayes, Neil Johnston, Earl Monroe

1993 - Bellamy, Erving, Issel, McGuire, Murphy

1996 - Cosic, Gervin, Goodrich, Thompson, Yardley

2008 - Adrian Dantley, Patrick Ewing, Hakeem Olajuwon, Pat Riley

2009 - Michael Jordan, David Robinson, Jerry Sloan, John Stockton

Frank Dell’Apa can be reached at f_dellapa@globe.com.