Scottie Pippen doubles down on MJ comment, boastful IG post appeared first on NBC Sports Chicago
Scottie Pippen labeled Michael Jordan a “terrible player” before he joined the team in 1987.
He followed up on the comments and social media with a bragging post on Instagram.
“From humble beginnings to 6 championships, 2 gold medals, a Hall of Fame and the Bulls’ franchise most wins in the game. Here are the unsung heroes… Cheer up!” Pippen captioned a picture of a younger version of himself.
Here’s what he had to say about Jordan in a recent podcast.
“I saw Michael Jordan play before I came to the Bulls. You guys saw him play. He was a terrible player,” Pippen said. Give it hot sauce! Podcast. “Playing against him was terrible. All the 1-on-1s were bad shots. Suddenly we started winning as a team and everyone forgot who he was. He was a player who really wasn’t. Top of his class.”
I will argue this in a second. I’ll let Pip do some of the heavy lifting first.
Less than a minute later, another former Chicago Bull, Stacey King, asked Pippen who would win the game between the 72-10 Chicago Bulls and the 73-9 Golden State Warriors. Pippen did not waste a second.
“Oh man. We’re the greatest team ever. If MJ hadn’t gone out, we probably would have won 2-3 more titles,” Pippen said.
I thought Jordan was a “terrible player”? How did you win two more titles? I imagine Pippen would have argued that having him on the team would have lifted Jordan and the 1998 Bulls to more titles.
However, there may not be a more egregious and factually incorrect argument about Jordan’s playing career.
In 1986-87, the final season before Pippen joined the Bulls, Jordan averaged 37.1 points (the most in a single season). Profession) with 5.2 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game on less than 50 percent shooting from the field. His efficiency and assists have increased since Pippen arrived, but what else?
Pippen’s presence helped Jordan win the Player of the Year award in Pippen’s rookie year, I’ll give it to him. But a terrible player? “Awesome player” and “Michael Jordan” are words that should never be in the same sentence. Pippen has kept Jordan in his starting five. The logic adds up nowhere.
The six NBA championships Jordan, Pippen and the 90’s Bulls won would not have been possible without Pippen. He is arguably the second-best player on the team. Jordan recognized him and said, “Without Scottie Pippen, there is no Michael Jordan.” That’s where the debate gets interesting. As Pippen said on the podcast, one player can’t do it all. But we wouldn’t be having this conversation if Jordan wasn’t around.
Another point where Pippen stood — this one more logically — was his standing over LeBron James as the greatest “statistical” player.
“LeBron is the biggest winner,” Pippen said. “He’s so big now and he gets a lot of criticism. He’s never been a shot maker. He’s never been a guy to take the last shot. He’s never been good at it. I said this years ago, and I’ve been critical of him. When LeBron James left the game, he played the greatest game. He will be a statistical player.
Pippen went on to mention that James has been saying this since he was “two to three years” in the NBA. Unfortunately, Pippen was wrong again. I’ll let him argue again.
“The greatest player to put on shoes and play our game is Michael Jordan. No doubt about it. There’s no game I’d pick LeBron James over Michael Jordan,” Pippen said on ESPN in 2018 when discussing the topic of Jordan. James
Pippen’s recent comments are an unfortunate result of his relationship with Jordan. In no way are the arguments supported by any solid and logical evidence. As shown above, there are many instances where he contradicted himself.
Pippen’s argument stems from a personal encounter with Jordan. He mentioned on the podcast that he doesn’t believe his relationship with Jordan and Phil Jackson can be fixed. His argument carries zero weight and he was accused because of his relationship with Jordan.
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