The relationship between Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen is one that has become increasingly frosty over the years. While the duo won 6 championships with each other, Pippen often feels like his contributions to the teams he was on have been underappreciated.
As a result, Pippen was driven to win a title with the Houston Rockets in 1999, after leaving the Chicago Bulls and teaming up with Charles Barkley and Hakeem Olajuwon. Sadly, Pippen realized he had walked himself into a situation similar to the Bulls throughout the ’80s.
Michael Jordan was taking every shot for the Bulls throughout the ’80s as the team was still a poorly built one, outside of a developing Pippen on the roster. The 1999 Rockets were similar, as Pippen was relegated to feeding the ball to Barkley and Olajuwon repeatedly for buckets in the post.
“I kept feeding the ball to them in the low post. That was my whole job. Which meant a lot of standing around and watching them play one-on-one. I was used to the triangle, to the ball moving from one player to the next on every possession until we found the best scoring opportunity. I felt as I were back in the late eighties, watching Michael throw up a million shots night after night. The game wasn’t fun anymore. I wondered why the Rockets want me in the first place? Anyone could throw the ball into the post.” (h/t Basketball Network)
As evidenced by the short-lived tenure of Pippen on the Rockets, the team didn’t have a successful year. Pippen would be traded to the Portland Trail Blazers after his sole playoff performance with the Rockets led to a 3-1 series loss in the first round at the hands of the Los Angeles Lakers. Pippen averaged 14.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 5.9 assists.
Did Scottie Pippen Intend To Diss Michael Jordan?
Comparing Michael Jordan putting up insane numbers for a Bulls team that he was single-handedly carrying to the playoffs is not the same as 3 Hall of Fame caliber players not being able to figure out how to play together. The egos in the room were massive, with Pippen and Barkley especially not having a good relationship.
Scottie isn’t the most accurate person to refer to while discussing what went wrong with the 1999 Rockets, considering the part he had to play in the dysfunction. At least with MJ, Pippen got a chance to evolve into one of the greatest 2-way forwards of all time and put 6 rings on his fingers. He definitely wasn’t being complimentary of MJ with these comments.
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.
