“Even though I got arrested, the ’93-94 season was the one I enjoyed the most”: When Scottie Pippen admitted that the season without Michael Jordan was his favorite in his career

When Bulls’ legend Scottie Pippen admitted that the ’93-94 season without Michael Jordan was his favorite, despite all the drama

Back in 1993, Michael Jordan and the Bulls had just won three championships in a row. They were at the top of the basketball world, and it looked like nothing could have stopped them from winning again. Nothing except them, themselves. That is exactly what happened, as Michael Jordan decided to go into retirement for the first time in his career.

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Even though MJ left the Bulls, the Bulls weren’t totally left clueless. Scottie Pippen, who was second fiddle to MJ till now, stepped up and filled the leader role. Under his leadership, the Bulls went on to win 55 games that season, and finish 3rd in the Eastern Conference. Scottie Pippen had a fantastic individual season, winning the All-Star Game MVP, and finishing 3rd in the regular-season MVP voting.

Scottie Pippen calls ’93-94 season his favorite, despite all the incidents

Back in January 1994, Scottie Pippen was arrested for keeping a loaded gun in plain view in his car. The charges were dropped almost immediately, because of an illegal search of his vehicle. Pippen was then booed once in a Bulls home game in February. After that, during the playoffs, with Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Semis on the line, Head Coach Phil Jackson drew a final play of the game for Toni Kukoc. This angered Pippen, who refused to re-enter the game. This disgusted everyone on the Bulls, and even Pippen regrets doing so to date.

Despite all that, when Pippen talked about the season after MJ retired as his most enjoyable time.

“When Michael left, I looked at it as a challenge right away,” Pippen said. “I definitely knew it would be fun for me. It was fun, though. No matter what happened. The statements I made, me being caught with a gun, me not going back into the game. I was still able to enjoy it. I know how that sounds, but it’s true.”

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Even though the shoes Michael Jordan left behind were impossible to fill, Scottie Pippen had a fun time trying to do so. However, once MJ made his way back, the status of the team went back to how it was. Jordan led the team to their second three-peat from ’96-98.