“Michael Jordan made the big shots but Scottie Pippen changed the flow of the game”: Gary Payton gives his two cents on John Salley saying Pippen was better than Jordan

Gary Payton breaks down just what he thought about John Salley saying Scottie Pippen was more skilled than Michael Jordan. 

With Scottie Pippen doing press for his memoir ‘Unguarded’, he let the world know just how he felt about Michael Jordan and his time with the Chicago Bulls. While he remained appreciative of all that he accomplished alongside the 6x Finals MVP, he made it clear that he felt underappreciated throughout their title runs. 

With Jordan being a player who was iso-heavy quite a few times, Pippen even went as far as to say that Michael Jordan ‘ruined’ the game of basketball. It makes sense as to why he would say that because Scottie is the prototypical basketball player.

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He’s a point forward in every essence of it who can pass, defend, and get into the paint at extremely high levels. This enough to be one of the best players in the league at any given moment and Pip proved this by being an MVP candidate the very next season after Michael Jordan retired to pursue baseball. 

With Pippen feeling disrespected for the way he was depicted in ‘The Last Dance’ and making his disapproval very public, it’s safe to say that he’s created a rift between himself and Jordan. 

Gary Payton talks about Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen. 

While Gary Payton has never played with Michael Jordan or Scottie Pippen, he’s got a pretty good gauge on who they are as players, having battled against them at the highest level possible in the NBA.

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According to him, Jordan was there to make the big plays and the big shots while Scottie was the one who did quite nearly everything else, setting the flow of the game as well. 

John Salley, the former Bad Boy Piston who played merely 17 games for the Chicago Bulls in the ‘96 season, said that Scottie Pippen was the most skilled player he’d ever played with. His argument was that Michael Jordan never succeeded at a high level in the league until Pippen showed up.