The issues between Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen have been chronicled to a great extent over the last few years.
The two former teammates have been at odds with each other since ‘The Last Dance’ docuseries began airing. One of the biggest gripes that Scottie Pippen had with Michael Jordan was him leaving to play baseball, calling it a selfish move as he felt abandoned by his teammate.
Former NBA champion John Salley spoke once in an interview about Scottie Pippen’s comments toward Michael Jordan.
Salley noted that Jordan was selfish, but he had to be in order to be who he was. He added that Jordan was the reason the Bulls got to that position in the first place and also noted that MJ would have taken the blame if the Bulls lost, so he gets more credit than the rest of the Bulls whenever they won.
“He’s the messiah, he’s the greatest of all time, he’s the king. All kings are selfish. That’s what you do in order to build your kingdom. I don’t think he’s selfish, I think he’s just an alpha male playing in a team to win a game, that he was really good at… He went and took care of his own life. It was, because if they lost it was on him. If you lose you get it all, if you win you should get it all. 80% of the reason they were even in that position was because of Michael. He became so much more than anyone could have… James Worthy and I couldn’t believe that this skinny little Michael became the messiah. Michael is correct, people were saying Clyde Drexler was better than Michael Jordan. When they were going after each other in the (84) trials, those were the games to watch, Michael going back and forth after Clyde. I just say they have to pay attention to, all of it was on his shoulders. They didn’t say anything when anyone else walked into the American Airlines Arena. They said it for Michael… He and David Stern changed the image of the NBA in 1984. They used to say it was too black, too drug-infested.”
Salley clearly believes that Jordan was more than justified in being selfish, as he had to carry the load for the Bulls more so than anybody, including Pippen. Jordan played baseball at an emotional time in his life, losing his father, and not wanting to continue the sport of basketball without him.
Jordan would eventually make a return just 2 years later, and help the Bulls win 3 more championships in his second stint before going back into retirement. Michael Jordan has been called a lot of negative things before, but being selfish is something that would be incredibly unfair to accuse him of.
