When Michael Jordan joined the Chicago Bulls, it was a franchise in need of desperate life. They were perennial losers with even Chicago fans not holding their hopes high up. Jordan changed that, making it one of the most valuable sports teams in the world with six NBA championships. But did he do it alone, or with the help of other superstars? That’s what Gary Payton II discussed recently.
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Payton, who’s expected to continue his journey with the Golden State Warriors in the 25/26 season, weighed in on MJ’s career, discussing how the GOAT kept losing in the playoffs with the Bulls before Scottie Pippen came along. For three consecutive years between 1985 and 1987, the Jordan-led Bulls lost in the first round. Then Pippen came along and the Bulls’ history actually began changing.
Payton doesn’t think it was just Pippen though. He emphasized how everyone on the roster played their role, including his current head-coach Steve Kerr, who helped MJ win the last three championships of his career.
“For sure, it was Scottie, it was everybody. Everybody played their role. Steve played [his] role, like everybody played their role,” GPII said on the Jaxxon Podcast. He then singled out Pippen and Dennis Rodman as the two most crucial pieces behind MJ’s success.
“Without Scottie and Dennis and them, I don’t think he would have been able to get six of them.” he added. Then, GPII was asked whether Pippen and Rodman get as much credit as Jordan does, to which the 32-year-old replied, “Real knows real. If you’re actually a basketball person, you know what those type of guys bring to your team, and what they bring and contribute to championship teams.”
Pippen himself knows this. During their glory days, he didn’t mind giving most of the spotlight over to Jordan, but years after retirement, he’s brought to attention how MJ was 1-9 in the playoffs before he joined him in 1987. “Everyone became so enamored of his acrobatic moves that they overlooked the intangibles that don’t show up in the box score or the highlights on SportsCenter: taking a charge, boxing out your man, setting a pick,” he wrote on Unguarded, his memoir.
Jordan knew what Pippen was worth
Yes, MJ was one of the, if not the, GOATs. And players like Pippen often felt dwarfed by his popularity and aura. But MJ knew how vital he was. When he thought of teaming up with Magic Johnson, he candidly admitted that the legendary point guard would not have brought him as much glory as Pippen did.
“He said he’d win more rings with Scottie,” MJ’s Chicago Bulls teammate Charles Oakley had once said. “Scottie could do more than Magic. He always praised Scottie.”
History would have been very different without Pippen being drafted by Chicago or without Rodman joining them. MJ might have won a championship or two, but a dynasty, arguably the best in NBA history? Honestly, unlikely.
