Michael Jordan’s Former Teammate Clarifies Scottie Pippen’s Controversial Take On Charles Barkley’s Fighting Tendencies

Michael Jordan has had some illustrious and non-illustrious teammates. Scottie Pippen was one of the more decorated teammates and John Salley was the other one. They both had rivalries with Jordan’s good friend, Charles Barkley. In face, Pippen made the rivalry personal and even went on to say that Barkley only fought white guys.

Michael Jordan’s other teammate in the 1996 Bulls team, John Salley has now clarified these comments. He said, “He had fights with people he knew he could beat. Smart man. The reason why he got thrown through the plane glass window in Orlando was because he stepped in Charles’ way. Charles got him out of the way. He just happened to go through the plane glass window.”

“Once again, it’s going after people or saying things down the line. I think it’s anger that hasn’t been dealt with. Scotty has a bunch of issues. He was among the top 50 players. Lot of players didn’t think he should be in there. Scotty wouldn’t have been there if Michael Jordan wouldn’t have been there and vice versa.”

Scottie Pippen told these above words in an interview with GQ in 2021. He said, “I wish he woulda went through with it. I never apologized to him, but I’ll tell you what: He only got arrested for throwing some little white guys out of a window.”

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“I ain’t never seen him fight a black man unless there were referees around. He plays his role like he’s tough. I don’t know nobody he done whooped. Go back and check his record. Did I apologize to him? I told him to get me the hell out of there. That’s what I recall.”

Michael Jordan’s Pippen and Salley

Scottie Pippen and John Salley were teammates of Michael Jordan. Pippen was a long-time contributor to the Bulls team along with MJ. Pippen was famed for his defensive abilities, having made the NBA All-Defensive Team ten consecutive years during his career and leading the league in steals in 1994–95.

Pippen is one of three players in NBA history (along with Jordan and Olajuwon) to record 200 steals and 100 blocks in a season, and he has the record for second-most career steals in the playoffs (395) behind James. He was skilled at staying in front of his man on defense and particularly effective as a help defender, with his long arms in traps.

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On offense, Pippen relied primarily on his remarkable athleticism to gain an advantage over his defender; he slashed towards the basket for higher percentage shots. Pippen favored shooting his jump shots—mid-range and three-pointers—on an angle.

Salley too was a teammate, but he didn’t play any such minutes. At his peak, his defensive prowess was very much noted by everyone for the Detroit Pistons.