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Chicago Bulls should honor Norm Van Lier as they did Johnny Kerr

Kerr deserves to be in Hall of Fame; Van Lier's No. 2 should be retired

Melissa Isaacson | Sports Talk

March 1, 2009

It will mean plenty to their families if somehow Johnny "Red" Kerr gets elected to the Hall of Fame or if Norm Van Lier's No. 2 is hoisted to the United Center rafters.

It is something both dreamed about. It is something they both deserve. And it is something they never will see.

Kerr and Van Lier died Thursday, and anything we say about them from here on out is to make us feel better, not them.

At his Bulls retirement ceremony a little more than two weeks ago, Kerr told us it was the happiest day of his life and, though gravely ill, he was a lucky man. He was able to hear how much he was appreciated; able to see the statue that would grace the building after he was gone; to feel the love around him.

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Van Lier was there that night. He stood in the wings among the masses watching the ceremony, trying to catch a glimpse of Kerr.

"I love Johnny like a brother," Van Lier said almost tearfully as he leaned over the press table. "I should have been out there with him."

Never afraid of speaking from his heart, Van Lier would repeat himself later on Comcast SportsNet.

Neil Funk, the master of ceremonies that night, said that in the rush to move Kerr's ceremony two months earlier in order to accommodate his failing health, he was certain the exclusion of Van Lier was a simple oversight.

"It wasn't intentional," Funk said. "Norm loved Johnny and Johnny loved Norm."

Both shared a deep love for the Bulls, the team Kerr took to the playoffs as coach in its inaugural season, and for whom Van Lier sacrificed several layers of skin and a few gallons of blood.

It was easy to tell from behind their microphones, though when Kerr railed, he sounded like a disappointed father while Van Lier screamed that the team had no heart.

If there is a way not to get your number retired, this could be it. Van Lier's should be.

Although there were those in the Bulls' front office who disapproved of Van Lier, he represented the club on many occasions and still worked for the station the Bulls' chairman owns a piece of.

But unlike the Blackhawks under the ownership of Rocky Wirtz, the Bulls haven't smoothed over the hurt feelings of so many of their alumni.

Former Bulls coach Dick Motta fired Jerry Krause when the future Bulls general manager was still a scout, and those wounds never healed.

"I have never been invited back, never been acknowledged that I know of," Motta said. "It hurts."

It takes a lot for an organization to admit it's wrong. It takes just as much for an individual to forgive. But Johnny Kerr did.

"Johnny was let go twice by the Bulls organization and he never uttered a bad word about them," former Bulls broadcaster Jim Durham said.

Durham theorizes Kerr was so good-natured, it may have kept him out of the Hall of Fame.

"He was Coach of the Year, gets fired the next year and says, 'Oh I get it, Coach For a Year,' and everyone laughs," Durham said. "And how does Johnny describe winning the 1955 NBA title?

He said, 'We didn't have rings in those days. The Chamber of Commerce gave us plaques. I always tried to figure out how to put a plaque on my finger.' "

The Hall of Fame gave Kerr another trophy at his retirement ceremony, a lifetime achievement award, and Johnny, of course, accepted it graciously. Maybe one day, he will make it through their doors.

And maybe one day the Bulls will honor Van Lier. Maybe then everyone will feel better.

misaacson@tribune.com