Klutch Sports Group CEO Rich Paul has dished out plenty of hot takes over the last few months, and his recent one about Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen raised plenty of eyebrows. Paul claimed Jordan would be 0-6 in the NBA Finals without Pippen, and was widely criticized for his comments. It turns out, though, that he isn’t alone in thinking that.
Paul’s comments were brought to Hall of Famer Tim Hardaway Sr.’s attention, and he agrees with him. Hardaway spoke about his reasoning on his Crossover Podcast.
“I said, ‘Yeah, he’d be 0-6,'” Hardaway said. “… They had to get Scottie Pippen’s head in it. They had to make sure that he was ready… What Scottie Pippen did, who could come in and do that?”
When Pippen’s defensive prowess was acknowledged on the podcast, Hardaway made it clear he was incredibly impactful on offense, too.
“Offensively too,” Hardaway said. “… Okay, listen, tell me this. Who could pick up Magic Johnson like that?… Who going to bring the ball up like Scottie brought the ball up?… If you didn’t have Scottie doing what Scottie did offensively and defensively when they went to the championship, [they weren’t winning].”
Hardaway was referring to the 1991 NBA Finals when he brought up Magic Johnson. The Jordan-Pippen Bulls made it to the Finals for the first time that year and were up against Johnson’s Los Angeles Lakers.
The Lakers were the underdogs in that series, but won Game 1 93-91 with Johnson running the show. Jordan was the one tasked with guarding him, but then early on in Game 2, Bulls head coach Phil Jackson decided to have Pippen take on the assignment.
Johnson struggled against Pippen’s defense, scoring 14 points on 4-13 shooting from the field as the Bulls won 107-86. They’d win the next three games as well to clinch the title.
It was that defensive impact, combined with point forward skills, that made Pippen one of the best players in the NBA. He obviously wasn’t as good as Jordan, but he was damn good.
Pippen averaged 16.1 points, 6.4 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 2.0 steals, and 0.8 blocks per game over the course of his 17-year career. He made seven All-Star, seven All-NBA, and 10 All-Defensive teams.
Pippen did pretty well in the NBA Finals, too, averaging 19.0 points, 8.3 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 1.9 steals, and 1.1 blocks per game. He was a big reason why the Bulls went 6-0 on the biggest stage.
It’s become fairly clear over the years that Pippen feels he should get more credit. Jordan has always gotten much of the praise, and he wants some coming his way. Does Pippen deserve more? Absolutely, but let’s not get things twisted here.
Jordan was the biggest reason for all of the Bulls’ success. None of it happens without him.
Jordan averaged 30.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 2.3 steals, and 0.8 blocks per game in his career. To go with the six titles, he won six Finals MVPs, five MVPs, one DPOY, and 10 scoring titles. He also made 14 All-Star, 11 All-NBA, and nine All-Defensive teams.
In those six Finals trips, Jordan averaged 33.6 points, 6.0 rebounds, 6.0 assists, 1.8 steals, and 0.7 blocks per game. He was devastatingly good.
Now, would Jordan have gone 6-0 if he didn’t have a player like Pippen by his side? Most definitely not. Then again, no one wins championships by themselves in the NBA. All the greats have needed a quality supporting cast. We can tear down plenty of resumes if we start talking about what would happen if the second-best player is taken off the team. It’s ultimately a pointless exercise.
