Former NBA player Scottie Pippen recently shocked the NBA world after he went on air and called Michael Jordan a horrible player and teammate.
Pippen’s comments were so bizarre that Trae Young couldn’t believe they came out of the Chicago Bulls legend’s mouth.
Pippen’s hate for MJ has been brewing
While Pippen’s comments came out of the blue, it’s also fair to say that the hate was expected, considering how Scottie talked about Jordan since the release of “The Last Dance” in 2020.
The reason why Pip has been bitter and spiteful of his former teammate is because of how Jordan produced the documentary—he criticized it for higlihting MJ’s greatness instead of the success of the Chicago Bulls’ 90s dynasty.
“The final two episodes aired on May 17. Similar to the previous eight, they glorified Michael Jordan while not giving nearly enough praise to me and my proud teammates. Michael deserved a large portion of the blame. The producers had granted him editorial control of the final product. The doc couldn’t have been released otherwise. He was the leading man and the director,” Pippen wrote in an excerpt from his memoir, Unguarded, published by GQ.
Scottie reveals Jordan’s true intention
Instead of highlighting the greatness of the Bulls dynasty in the 90s, Pippen said that the reason why MJ came up with the documentary was that he wanted to remind people who Michael Jordan was — especially because LeBron James started garnering traction in the GOAT debate.
“Except Michael was determined to prove to the current generation of fans that he was larger-than-life during his day—and still larger than LeBron James, the player many consider his equal, if not superior. So Michael presented his story, not the story of the “Last Dance,” Pippen added.
So yes, at this point, it’s not a surprise if Pippen continues to speak negatively about his former teammate. It’s unfortunate that it has come to this for one of the best duos in NBA history, who went from being part of the greatest dynasty run in sports during the 90s to now throwing each other under the bus 20 years later.