Bulls veteran Scottie Pippen talks about why the 1997-98 Houston Rockets super team was a failure. Pippen cited an old Hakeem Olajuwon and Charles Barkley’s lack of dedication as the prime reasons.
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Six-time NBA champion Scottie Pippen is leaving no stone unturned in opening old wounds in the light of his memoir’s release. During a recent interview with SiriusXM NBA Radio, Pippen addressed why the superteam in Houston didn’t work according to his expectations.
Pippen’s tenure in the Bulls ended on a bitter note. The Hall of Famer didn’t share a great relationship with the front office, especially GM Jerry Krause. Pippen had several issues relating to his contract with the team. Thus when Michael Jordan retired in 1998, the Bulls decided to rebuild, and traded Pippen to the Houston Rockets.
In what many believed, the Rockets were immediate championship contenders after they acquired Pippen. The super team had the likes of Hakeem Olajuwon and Charles Barkley on its roster.
Unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned. Recently, Pippen spoke about the Rockets’ super team’s failure to meet expectations.
Scottie Pippen addresses why the 1997-98 Rockets super team failed.
The 1997-98 Houston Rockets team looked scary on paper consisting of a lineup that included Hakeem Olajuwon, Charles Barkley, and Scottie Pippen. However, the Lakers duo of Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal sent the Rockets home in the first round of the playoffs.
Reportedly, there was a lot of friction between Barkley and Pippen. The two superstars had joined forces thinking they could win a championship. While the Phoenix MVP took a salary cut to accommodate Pippen, the latter went to Houston to help bring Barkley a ring.
Recently, Pippen spoke about the matter in-depth, citing he didn’t realize how old everybody on the roster had become.
“We were a little bit older. I thought I was joining a superteam to some degree. But it just didn’t work out. I felt that it wasn’t a good fit for me, obviously coming off a second back surgery. I didn’t realize how much Hakeem had diminished in the game. I didn’t realize Charles wasn’t as dedicated as I thought he would be.”
Pippen added,
“I mean, I went to Houston to help Charles Barkley win a championship, and I felt his dedication wasn’t there once I got there. Me, myself, I had six, so it wasn’t really about me trying to go out of my way to win a championship and that’s why I asked for a trade to Portland.
“Charles wasn’t as dedicated as I thought he would be.”@ScottiePippen explains to @TheFrankIsola how it just didn’t work out in Houston with Charles Barkley.
Listen to our Town Hall with Scottie Pippen here:
🔊 https://t.co/yMzGDzNK6M pic.twitter.com/KW6xRhEG03— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) November 9, 2021
To date, Barkley and Pippen don’t see eye to eye. The Hall of Famers blamed each other for the debacle of the Rockets during the 1997-98 season. Barkley was disappointed in Pippen asking for a trade since he took to take a salary cut for the Bulls forward. While, Pippen expressed his displeasure at Barkley’s lack of dedication.
Also read: “I was as great a player as Michael Jordan”: Scottie Pippen puts himself on the same pedestal as MJ
The 1997-98 Rockets super team was washed out one, with several internal issues combined with aging superstars.
