Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen’s relationship has been revisited and dissected endlessly since The Last Dance came out. Though MJ has always been quite complimentary of Pippen, even going so far as to say there would be no Michael Jordan without Scottie Pippen in the documentary, Pippen seemingly doesn’t feel the same warmth towards his superstar teammate.
A lot of the issues seem to stem from the fact that Scottie was quite undervalued and a fair bit underpaid during the Bulls’ amazing run as they won 6 championships in 8 years. Jordan was making a lot more than almost any other athlete at the time, and Pippen was nowhere close to making that kind of money. However, in Jordan’s post-game presser after the 1997 championship win, he backed Pippen to be given the same $30 million contracts he’d been getting since his return to the NBA.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UPD6iBT4Us
“You know, when I was here before I retired, I overshadowed Scottie a lot, you know, and he didn’t get the recognition that he truly, truly deserved. He’s matured since I’ve been around and when I stepped away, he matured even more because he understood what I was shielding him from. You know, the pressure and the press and the expectations.
“And when I’m back, he shouldn’t get any less of attention than if I was gone. And when I won the MVP, and I will hold true to my word, I will take the trophy, he can have the car. I’m gonna make sure he gets the car I mean because he’s like a little brother to me. And he’s prospered and moved along.
“From a financial standpoint, from a contract standpoint, he’s locked in. And he is very deserving of the same $30 million, 30 whatever I get in the next coming year. He’s very deserving of the same contract, I mean because he put forth the effort every single night.
“He goes through the pain and we work out every day. He’s joining me and working out every day to stay healthy, to get out here and provide for this organization and this city so that we can be healthy and we can continue to be champions. So, I mean, that’s what brothers do – we share our success and that’s what I’m doing to him. I just want the trophy, I got enough cars, he can have the Nissan.”
There can be no doubting that MJ appreciated how Pippen helped the team and indeed, helped him reach the heights that they managed to reach. Pippen made just $18 million on his 7-year deal that he signed in 1991, a staggeringly low number considering the level of play he provided. No wonder some of the wounds from that time still haven’t healed for one of the greatest players to ever grace the NBA.
