Scottie Pippen’s memoir ‘Unguardable’ is finally out, and we’re learning how he really felt about Michael Jordan during these years. The former small forward seemed to have a pretty good relationship with MJ during their time in Chicago, but Scottie has made sure to shut that down.
A couple of months ago, he went off on Jordan by claiming MJ wouldn’t have made it to the Finals without him. Pippen also took shots at Phil Jackson, saying he was racist for picking Toni Kukoc to take a last-gasp shot over him.
That was only a preview of what was coming, as Pippen still has some things to get off his chest. The Chicago Bulls legend had strong things to say about Jordan in his book by even saying that Mike ‘ruined basketball’ for refusing to pass, rebound or guard the best player on the opposing team.
“I may go as far to say Mike ruined basketball,” Pippen wrote. “In the 80s on the playgrounds you’d have everyone moving the ball around — passing to help the team. That stopped in the 90s. Kids wanted to be ‘Like Mike.’ Well, Mike didn’t want to pass — didn’t want to rebound, or defend the best player. He wanted everything done for him. That’s why I always believed LeBron James was the greatest player this game has ever seen — he does everything and embodies what the game is truly about.”
Last week, we learned details about how Pippen felt when he saw the Chicago Bulls’ docu-series ‘The Last Dance’ by attacking Jordan for treating his teammates badly and being condescending towards him. Pippen saw MJ calling his ‘best teammate ever,’ but that gesture didn’t please the 6x NBA champion.
Even in the second episode, which focused for a while on my difficult upbringing and unlikely path to the NBA, the narrative returned to MJ and his determination to win. I was nothing more than a prop. His “best teammate of all time,” he called me. He couldn’t have been more condescending if he tried.
On second thought, I could believe my eyes. I spent a lot of time around the man. I knew what made him tick. How naïve I was to expect anything else.
Scottie had some things to say about Michael and his time with the Bulls. However, plenty of fans aren’t happy that he waited so long to do this, especially knowing that he always spoke highly about Jordan.
It’s unclear at what point things went wrong between the two teammates, but Pippen is tired of being quiet. Sadly, things have come to this point and we don’t know if they’ll ever be fine again between Jordan and Pippen.
