Despite their recent fallout, there is no denying that Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen formed one of the greatest duos in the history of the NBA. Jordan and Pippen were incredibly dominant during their career together and found incredible success as teammates in the NBA.
After the 1996 NBA Finals, Jordan took a moment to shower praise on Scottie Pippen, noting how privileged he was to play with Pippen. He noted that Scottie Pippen staying with the Bulls was a blessing in disguise, and a big part of him choosing to return to the Chicago Bulls.
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“He’s one of the reasons I came back. If he leaves, I’m leaving again. I hope he’s around, and as much as I’ve admired Shawn Kemp’s ability, I’m just so happy they didn’t make that trade. If they made that trade, no telling if we would have been here and if I would have been here. A lot of people doubted Scottie Pippen for a long period of time, and he’s become like a little brother to me. … I’m very blessed to be a part of his team.”
Jordan retired from the NBA in 1993, after he and Pippen won three NBA championships together. During that time, Pippen became the leader of the Chicago Bulls. But without Jordan, Pippen was not able to win the NBA championship for the Bulls because he didn’t have a superstar to rely upon.
But Pippen would find help in 1995, as Jordan made his return in the middle of the season. Jordan and Pippen immediately got back to winning ways in their first full season back together, winning the 1996 NBA championship in dominant fashion, after going 72-10 in the regular season.
After that season, they went on to win 2 more NBA championships together. But in recent months, Pippen has called out Jordan on multiple occasions. Their former teammate Charles Oakley recently said that their relationship is over after all the things that Pippen said about Jordan.
