Scottie Pippen has become one of the most popular figures in basketball since the release of the documentary, but not for good reasons. He accused Michael Jordan and coach Phil Jackson on different occasions.
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After “The Last Dance” became a success worldwide and Michael Jordan again took over in the Greatest of all time debate, suddenly his former Bulls teammate Scottie Pippen started having some problems. After calling out Michael Jordan for portraying him the wrong way in the documentary, he accused Phil Jackson of being a racist.
Back in the summer this year, Pippen and Phil Jackson were all over the media when Pippen opened up about his and Jackson’s relationship in an interview he did with GQ.
He recalled the famous incident where Jackson drew up a last-second shot for Toni Kukoc during a 1994 playoff series against the New York Knicks. After Kukoc’s preference over him, Scottie refused to get in on the play and decided to stay on the bench. Kukoc made that shot to win the game.
Scottie is still sour about the incident, the guy has not talked to his coach to date. In an interview with GQ, he talked about his relationship with his former coach at Chicago Bulls.
“It was my first year playing without Michael Jordan, why wouldn’t I be taking that last shot? I been through all the ups and downs, the battles with the Pistons and now you gonna insult me and tell me to take it out?” Pippen said.
He continued: “I thought it was a pretty low blow. I felt like it was an opportunity to give [Kukoc] a rise. It was a racial move to give him a rise. After all I’ve been through with this organization, now you’re gonna tell me to take the ball out and throw it to Toni Kukoc? You’re insulting me. That’s how I felt.”
Scottie Pippen takes a U-turn on his racism accusation on Phil Jackson
The 7-time All-Star even doubled down on his accusation on Dan Patrick Show, after Dan asked him if he is calling his former coach racist? The 10-time All-Defensive forward said “Oh yea”.
Pippen has believed this to be true since that incident but had no prior or further instance where he thought of Phil to be a racist. And no other player other than Scottie accused the coach of racism. So finally Scottie came to his senses and took a step back. He accepted his mistake in his new book.
“I was so hurt when he picked Toni over me that I needed to come up with an explanation for why I was rejected. For why, after everything I had given to the Chicago Bulls, I wasn’t allowed to have my moment.”
“So I told myself at the time that Phil’s decision must have been racially motivated, and I allowed myself to believe that lie for nearly 30 years. Only when I saw my words in print did it dawn on me how wrong I was,” Scottie wrote according to New York Times.
Maybe he realized it now that racism is a very big accusation to put on anyone and to accuse his coach who was a big part of his successful NBA career wasn’t the right thing to do at all.
Maybe Phil played some role in Scottie not landing a contract that would have justified his talent and contribution, that doesn’t give him the right to throw such huge allegations which might tarnish the great coach’s image forever. But it is good that the Hall of Famer finally came to his senses.
