Scottie Pippen’s recent comments about Michael Jordan have cooked up a storm in the NBA world. In an excerpt from his new book that is scheduled to come out soon, Pippen had a lot of negative things to say about Michael Jordan.
Pippen called out Jordan for the way he and his fellow Bulls teammates were treated and portrayed in ‘The Last Dance’ documentary, noting that Jordan underplayed their accomplishments and contributions to the Chicago Bulls dynasty during the 10-episode docuseries.
These comments have not gone down well with many fans, who feel that Jordan is being unfairly slandered by Pippen. Throughout the years, Michael Jordan has been nothing but complimentary of Pippen and had a lot of kind words to say about Pippen.
In fact, during the documentary, Jordan called Pippen his best teammate ever and attributed all of his and the Bulls’ championship success to playing alongside Scottie Pippen. But those comments did not go down well with Pippen, despite the well-intentioned nature seemingly behind them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWUp1opix24
“Whenever they speak Michael Jordan, they should speak Scottie Pippen.”
“He helped me so much in the way I approached the game, in the way I played the game.”
“Everybody says, well, I won all these championships, but I didn’t win without Scottie Pippen, and that’s why I consider him my best teammate of all time.”
“I would never be able to find a tandem, another support system, another partner in the game of basketball like Scottie Pippen.”
He even gave a massive shoutout to Scottie Pippen in his hall of fame speech, making sure that Pippen was one of the first people he thanked up there and gave him credit for every single championship that they won together during their time together in Chicago (1:20 mark).
“In all the videos you never just saw me… you saw Scottie Pippen… every championship I won…”
Jordan has consistently shown a lot of love and admiration for Pippen, and always given him his flowers every chance he gets. For all the accusations thrown at Jordan for having an ego, he always acknowledges the importance of Pippen in his career and his style of play.
The Bulls were unstoppable during Michael Jordan-Scottie Pippen’s era. They won 6 NBA championships, had 2 three-peats, and they are the only team in NBA history to win 6 championships in 8 years since the days of Bill Russell’s Celtics. And no team since has been able to have that kind of dominance for a sustained period of time.
Pippen didn’t think that Jordan was being authentic in his comments, accusing him of being condescending in the documentary. On top of that, he suggested that the documentary came out because Michael Jordan wanted to one-up LeBron James.
Pippen’s comments could be an attempt to garner interest for his upcoming book. While it may not be right, and it may not be fair, he could be doing what he feels he needs to in order to make sure that his book is a successful venture.
Fans who witnessed the Bulls and saw Pippen and MJ play together will hope that the two can reconcile their differences. It would take a lot of work, and at least a few apologies. And while it isn’t likely, this duo has pulled off the impossible on the court, so fans can only hope that they can do so off the court.
