Dick Öland Klein (September 16, 1920 – October 10, 2000) was an American athlete and businessman who founded the National Basketball Association's Chicago Bulls in 1966.
[3] Once his playing days were over, he moved to the Chicago suburbs and embarked on a highly successful career distributing promotional items to banks and other companies.
Three years later, the Chicago Stags of the early National Basketball Association disbanded due to lack of fan interest.
[2] However, Klein was determined to bring professional basketball back to Chicago, and started recruiting local businessmen to help him found an expansion team.
A turning point occurred when Klein received the support of the American Broadcasting Company, who was negotiating with the NBA for television rights.
[5] On January 26, 1966, his group was finally awarded an NBA expansion franchise at a cost of $1.6 million,[6] and Klein was named general manager.
[9] He then acquired Guy Rodgers, Jerry Sloan, Len Chappell, Jim Washington, Erwin Mueller, Don Kojis, and Bob Boozer to form the core playing unit for the Bulls.
[11] However, the Bulls regressed the following season, winning just 29 games, and as the team struggled to increase attendance figures, tensions emerged between Klein and Kerr.
Klein openly criticized Kerr in the local media, and he frequently sent notes to his coaching staff during games, which contained messages such as "That's seven turnovers this quarter".