Charles Barkley and Scottie Pippen were two of the best players in the NBA in the 90s and had one thing in common apart from the City they played in for a year – their stardom got totally overshadowed by Michael Jordan’s.
Advertisement
However, we are here to talk about when those two came together in 1998 after MJ and Clyde Drexler’s retirement and teamed up with Hakeem “The Dream” Olajuwon to become one of the NBA’s best teams ever assembled.
Although, they were anything, but a “team”, mostly because of the Round Mound of Rebounds, if Scottie is to be believed.
When Charles Barkley robbed Scottie Pippen of a chance of winning it without Michael Jordan
In an interview with GQ in 2021 when his memoir ‘Unguarded’ was about to come out, Pippen revealed how the 1993 MVP flipped on their decision to train with his and MJ’s personal trainer from his time in Chicago, Tim Grover.
“He (Charles Barkley) started selling me out” Pippen explained to interviewer Tyler R. Tynes how Chuck after agreeing to get trained with Tim for a season later started declining to be on time according to the schedules.
Within a week or two Barkley switched to another trainer moving on quickly, from his word and a trainer who was quite popular in the league to get the best out of MJ and Pippen and later on with Kobe Bryant. Insane. Chuck was as wild back in the day as he is now.
Also read: “I’d Bust Charles Barkley’s A**”: Dwight Howard Claims He’d Beat 1993 MVP One-on-One
Barkley would have won a lot if he had MJ’s discipline
Much like his friend Jordan, Barkley enjoyed eating, partying, gambling, and spending some more big bucks on some Golf courses, but he never had the work ethic to do all that and play at the level he was capable of.
That lack of discipline made sure he never won a championship when he was so close to it in 1993 and had the chance to make something big out of the Big-3 he formed in Houston in 1996 with Olajuwon and Drexler and then with Pippen in 98.
