Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen achieved historic feats as teammates on the Bulls. They won six championships over eight seasons en route to Hall-of-Fame careers. Unfortunately, the two no longer are on speaking terms. Former teammate of the two, John Salley, knew exactly the moment the relationship between them ended.
Advertisement
In recent years, Pippen has been extremely vocal regarding his feelings for his former running mate. MJ and Pippen dominated the NBA together. From an outsider’s perspective, they seemed like the closest friends. In reality, that was far from the case.
Salley played with Jordan and Pippen for the second half of the 1995-96 season. At the moment, things were great due to the team’s success. Once that chapter of their careers was over, he knew their relationship would whither.
The four-time NBA champion joined Udonis Haslem’s The OG’s Podcast to discuss the state of the two legend’s relationship. He provided an adamant response that they would never reconcile their differences.
“It’s been over,” Salley proclaimed. “It’s been over before the video. At 2004, I knew it was over.”
The video that Salley is most likely referring to is Jordan’s docu-series ‘The Last Dance’. Pippen wasn’t a huge fan of how Jordan and the production team portrayed him. Many believed that caused friction between the two which has blossomed into what it is today.
Salley’s statement does seem a bit weird when the context around that time is taken into consideration. MJ and Pippen had plenty of close moments together such as their respective Hall-of-Fame inductions which involved each other.
In 2012, Pippen invited Jordan to his 47th birthday party. The six-time NBA Finals MVP attended the event which was eight years after Salley supposedly knew the duo’s relationship was over. While the relationship had clearly degraded before then, and continues to now, that seems to disprove Salley’s statement.
Nonetheless, Jordan and Pippen no longer attend each other’s birthday parties. Salley is also a former teammate of Pippen who is no longer on good terms with the seven-time All-Star. Salley thought they were on good terms until Pippen unexpectedly cut him off.
Fans can only hope that Pippen and Jordan mend their friendship in the coming years, however unlikely that may be. If that never happens, they gave years worth of memories for people to hold onto for generations to come.
