Although the current Chicago squad is doing extremely well for themselves, Bulls fans will always place the Michael Jordan era above everything. It was a time in the late 80s and early 90s, when the red devils were close to unbeatable. Along with teammate Scottie Pippen, MJ won six NBA Championships, which included two three-peats. Although they were never really the best of friends, it always seemed like they had an amicable relationship. But as revealed by Pippen recently, this was never the case.
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Irrespective of what the numbers say, 56-YO Pippen played just as important a part in Chicago’s glory days as MJ. Averaging over 16 points, he was the perfect man to pair up with ‘His Airness’. Regardless of their unquestionable on-court connection, this iconic tag team never had the best of equations off the court. Netflix’s ‘The Last Dance’ documentary hinted towards the same, and things unraveled soon after.
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Following his dissatisfaction with the 10-part series, ‘Pip’ has been taking shot after shot at the 14-time All-star.
Scottie Pippen feels Bulls won in spite of Michael Jordan criticizing them
In his memoir ‘Unguarded’, Scottie reveals that Jordan was always selfish and hypocritical. As per the allegations, MJ looked for his personal gain, and wasn’t that big of a team player. Also, Jordan used to apparently reprimand his teammates very often. As admitted by Pippen himself, the legend would often berate or bully his mates, in order to elevate their level. But the 7-time All-star felt this did nothing but lower the morale of the setup.
“We didn’t win six championships because he got on guys. We won in spite of his getting on guys,” said Pippen regarding Michael Jordan.
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As reported by Brad Botkin of CBS Sports, Pippen alleged that the Bulls had to fight opponents as well as Jordan’s belittling to succeed. “Michael was wrong,” boldly claimed the former small forward. “We didn’t win six championships because he got on guys. We won in spite of his getting on guys.” Instead, Pippen chose to credit Chicago’s success to them playing ‘team basketball’.
It is slightly disheartening to see the legendary Bulls squad crumble their own separate ways. Now, we will never be able to see the Pippen-Jordan bond in the same way that we used to. What do you think of the ongoing saga? Let us know.
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