To say Scottie Pippen and Michael Jordan’s friendship is under jeopardy right now might be the understatement of the millennium. What was once considered one of the greatest duos in NBA history have fallen to infighting, mostly after Scottie Pippen’s recent barrage of attacks at Michael Jordan over their shared time playing together?
In an effort to promote his upcoming memoir, Pippen shared an excerpt, in which he slammed Michael Jordan for the way he treated the rest of the Chicago Bulls in ‘The Last Dance’ docuseries. He said that the documentary was more about Jordan than any other player or even the team.
Despite all this animosity, Pippen still thinks highly of Jordan. In a recent interview with GQ Sports, Scottie was asked who was the best teammate he ever played with (34:16 mark). Surprisingly, Pippen actually spoke about MJ in a positive light and called him the best teammate he shared the court with.
“Well the best teammate I ever played with was Michael Jordan. There’s no doubt about that. I’m gonna say that all day, every day.”
Perhaps this is Pippen trying to undo some of the damage and bad press he’s garnered with his negative comments about MJ. Or maybe this could be Pippen giving credit where credit is due. It is odd that Pippen called Jordan patronizing for saying the same thing about Pippen during the docuseries.
In fact, historically we have seen Michael Jordan give Pippen his due credit on every chance he has gotten. And recently, Pippen has been doing the exact opposite, even mocking Jordan’s historic flu game in the 1997 NBA Finals against the Utah Jazz.
Pippen’s memoir gives his side of the story, something he feels is not heard enough because of the world’s love with Michael Jordan. But his comments seem to be a direct result of the attention given to the docuseries from last year. Regardless, Pippen has created a storm that gives a different look at one of the most iconic duos ever.
