Scottie Pippen revealed in an interview that if Michael Jordan hadn’t hit ‘The Shot’ over Bryon Russell, a Game 7 would’ve been without Pip.
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Jackson. Tyson. Jordan. Game 6.
Nig**z in Paris gave us some iconic lyrics that accurately depict just what MJ’s final shot with the Chicago Bulls means to the world of sports and sports fans.
We all know that Michael Jordan was the greatest to set foot on the hardwood even before ‘The Final Shot’. But what it did was give a fairytale ending (at the time) to what is still, by a country mile, the most storybook career in sports.
That shot put the finishing touches to the most dominant spell in basketball history by a single team. Even as a Celtics fan, I have to admit that what MJ did through 6 seasons was tougher than Bill Russell’s achievements.
That shot also, incidentally, meant that the Bulls wouldn’t have to enter Game 7 without Scottie Pippen.
Scottie Pippen says if Michael Jordan hadn’t hit the shot over Bryon Russell, he’d not play Game 7
Scottie Pippen and Michael Jordan have had the kind of divorce every couple would dread having. The duo was and is still considered the greatest duo in NBA history, although there are a couple (like Kobe and Shaq) who’ll have a different opinion.
However, Pippen didn’t like the light in which he was portrayed during The Last Dance. And he’s been on a vendetta to set the record straight through his POV since the release of the Netflix series.
Scottie Pippen gave a tell-all interview to SiriusXM this past November to promote the release of his autobiography ‘Unguarded’. One of the revelations he made in this sit-down was that he was quite seriously injured during the 1998 NBA Finals:
“I was done pretty much. I mean, I struggled to pull it through in that game (Game 6).”
1998 Finals game 6, MJ scores 45 of the Bulls 87 points. MJ scores all the Bulls points in the last minute including the game winner. If he had missed that shot, the Bulls would’ve had to play game 7 without Scottie. pic.twitter.com/ZqXCTGNx18
— Marl Kalone (@KaloneMarl) January 27, 2022
A cursory look at the stat sheet reveals how MJ scored over half of the Bulls’ points in a slugfest of an offensive game.