Scottie Pippen has gone down as one of the greatest defenders in NBA history, and deservedly so. He was an outstanding wing defender in the 1990s and was capable of guarding literally every position on the court, which was incredibly valuable for the dynastic Chicago Bulls.
Pippen made it to the NBA All-Defensive First Team 8 years in a row from 1992 to 1999, but he never won Defensive Player of the Year. He finished runner-up a few times, but it still wasn’t particularly close. Pippen has an idea why he never won it, and it has something to do with Michael Jordan. Scottie said that the media was too busy watching Jordan to pay him any attention, and Iman Shumpert, who grew up a Bulls fan, thinks that was indeed the case.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXMcNRpK1GU
“I would say it’s probably true. I don’t know if none of y’all were super Bulls fans like I was, I don’t remember anyone else being put in to do what he used to do. So many of his steals are all because of him. I feel like Pip was getting everything just like you dribbling, now you just can’t move no more and then he could switch onto your center, like really guard him though… Pipp, you couldn’t just jump-hook him, he’ll go up there and block that. Couldn’t say he didn’t have a motor, wasn’t like he was doing this a couple of games out of 82. This was all day, all night, whatever y’all need man.”
Pippen is probably under-appreciated, but that is what happens when you are the sidekick to the greatest player of all time. Jordan ultimately got most of the credit for the Bulls’ success, and you can’t really say he didn’t deserve it. Pippen does seem quite bitter about it, and he has taken quite a few shots at MJ in recent times.
The Last Dance Documentary Ruined Scottie Pippen And Michael Jordan’s Friendship
While Jordan and Pippen were never the best of friends at any point, they were still quite friendly with each other. All that changed with the Last Dance documentary, however, as Pippen was furious with the way he was portrayed in it. He took some big shots at MJ in his book later, stating that Jordan couldn’t have been more condescending if he had tried.
Pippen also stated that Jordan was trying to show that he is larger than LeBron James with the documentary, and there is probably some truth to that. It is a shame that these two will probably never make up, as they are incredibly stubborn individuals as well.
We sincerely appreciate and respect you as a reader of our site. It would help us a lot if you follow us on Google News because of the latest update.
Thanks for following us. We really appreciate your support.
