Text size: increase text sizedecrease text size

Johnny 'Red' Kerr and Norm Van Lier remembered fondly by Chicago Bulls community

By Melissa Isaacson | Tribune reporter
10:09 PM CST, February 27, 2009

The day began with the shock of a right cross, former Bulls broadcaster Jim Durham mused 24 hours later. It ended, he said, with a solid left uppercut.

First Norm Van Lier. Then Johnny "Red" Kerr.

Van Lier, in some ways the very heart of the Bulls franchise.

Kerr, in every way its soul.

Thursday was a day for old Bulls and their many fans to mourn the passing of an era with the news that Van Lier had died of undetermined causes at 61. By the time they went to bed Thursday night, Kerr, 76, was gone from prostate cancer.

In between there were no metaphors. Only a sad bit of irony as the current Bulls, not yet born when Kerr helped breathe life into a new franchise and Van Lier and his teammates preserved it, received a tour of the White House from President Barack Obama.

"It was a thrill to meet President Obama and he was extremely gracious and generous with his comments and his time," general manager John Paxson said. "Our players realize the significance of having the honor of shaking his hand because it doesn't happen very often, if at all.

"The day, though, was tempered by the deaths of Johnny and Norm. … It was an indescribable day for the Bulls family."

News trickled out on the bus as the team left its Washington, D.C., hotel for the White House. A phone call alerted Bulls VP Steve Schanwald, who quietly informed Paxson, then broadcasters Neil Funk, Bill Wennington and Stacey King that Van Lier had died.

By the time they arrived at the White House, the whole team knew.

Wennington's thoughts drifted to two days earlier, when he and Van Lier took their places on the United Center sidelines to coach against each other in one of the promotional games the Bulls' marketing department stages for sponsors.

"He was good, like he always was," Wennington said. "He shouted to his players and teased me, like he always does. We always took pictures at the end, and Norm started singing the Beatles song, 'Yellow Submarine,' but he got two verses into it and started making up the rest.

"He said he wasn't feeling well the week before, but he seemed much better. There was no sign of him being any other way than how he always was."

Van Lier was found dead in his Chicago apartment Thursday afternoon. Concerned colleagues at Comcast SportsNet alerted authorities after he failed to show up for work the night before.

Outside Dallas, former Bulls coach Dick Motta was informed of Van Lier's death by a reporter.

"No one should die at 61," Motta said.

Motta, 77, had had little contact with Van Lier since coaching him for five seasons in the 1970s. The Bulls won 50 or more games in three of those seasons and went to the playoffs in four of them with the fiery coach and his equally fiery point guard often clashing.

"Norman was not the easiest person in the world to coach, but he wasn't the most difficult either," Motta said. "He definitely had his moments, some bad, but mostly great. If I had a team and a young Norm Van Lier was available to me, hell yes, I would take him.

"A coach wants a lot of things, but if you get consistency, you can live with almost anything else. And when that Bulls team stepped on the floor, you knew there was never a time he wouldn't be willing to sacrifice that scrawny little body. Norm Van Lier was one I could always count on."

Tom Dore, a former broadcast partner of Van Lier and Kerr, was driving from his home in Burr Ridge to visit his mother when a friend called to tell him of Van Lier's passing.

Related topic galleries: The White House, Barack Obama, Scottie Pippen, Chicago Bulls, Government, United Center, Michael Jordan

Get the Tribune delivered at home and save 25% off the newsstand price.

Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune

BULLS, NBA ... BY THE NUMBERS

THE BULLS

• 2008-09 Bulls schedule (Times and TV added)
• Bulls roster | Bulls statistics
• Photo galleries: Current Bulls • Classic Bulls
• Got a question? Ask our Bulls writer
• Send us your Bulls fan photos!

AROUND THE NBA

• Today's matchups and schedule | Today's odds
• NBA standings | Power rankings
• League leaders | Injuries | Transactions

Need Game Tickets?
Search by team or event name
  

College tourney contests!


Pick game-by-game | Pick the entire bracket
Now available on your mobile phone!
Other games: Auto racing | Golf

Chicago Tribune on Digg

Digg
Sports fan shop