On the latest episode of ‘7PM in Brooklyn’, Carmelo Anthony tore into Scottie Pippen for his recent take on the GOAT debate. The Chicago Bulls legend crowned Magic Johnson as the greatest but threw shade on LeBron James in the process, earning the wrath of his long-time friend.
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Anthony repeated what fans have been urging Pippen to do for years now — bury the hatchet with Michael Jordan. He believed that it was unfair on Scottie’s part to enjoy the success of his partnership with MJ only to turn around and try sullying his name decades after the fact.
“As far as LeBron goes,” Melo added, “Leave that man the f**k alone… Like, pay homage to Magic but leave them n***as alone, them n***as is the GOATs of our league man. Those are the three. So whatever issues you have with Bron, like, leave that s**t alone, Scottie. Bron [LeBron James] ain’t even thinking about you.”
Anthony’s comments were in response to a recent interview where Pippen took the path of the contrarian when asked to pick between LeBron and MJ. “ Neither one of them are GOATs they both won differently,” the seven-time All-Star answered.
He instead vouched for Magic Johnson as the greatest of all time due to his innate ability to make his team better. And using that same line of argument, Scottie stated that he should be in GOAT debates too, ahead of the King.
“You want individual accolades or you want championships?” Pippen taunted when comparing himself to LeBron. “Cause I didn’t chase mine,” the six-time NBA champion added. ‘Ring chasing’ is far more nuanced than simply hopping from team to team as a litany of factors are in play when choosing which city to play in. Besides, Scottie left the Bulls for a stacked Rockets team in the late 90s to earn himself a 7th title as well.
He explained how the GOAT debate should come from a team standpoint and argued that he was better than James because his team won more rings. Scottie’s belief that he should be higher in the legacy conversation due to his team-first mentality is not nonsensical, but as Carmelo pointed out, there was no reason for him to allude to LeBron as being a ring-chaser.
It’s particularly confusing when you consider the history of Pippen’s takes on the GOAT debate. In 2011, when James was pursuing his first championship in Miami, the former #33 gave him the nod over Jordan for his well-rounded style of play.
“I may go as far as to say LeBron James may be the greatest player to ever play the game because he is so potent offensively that not only can he score at will but he keeps everybody involved,” Pippen said on ESPN radio.
Then he flip-flopped on his pick in 2018. “In my mind, Wilt Chamberlain is the greatest player,” Scottie argued, stating that it’s pointless to compare Jordan and LeBron due to their positional differences.
Scottie Pippen’s full quote on the comparison between Michael Jordan and LeBron James: “There’s really no comparison.”
“In my mind Wilt Chamberlain is the greatest.” pic.twitter.com/5irc8k5Psp
— Logan Murdock (@loganmmurdock) May 18, 2018
Fast forward seven more years and this time, it’s Magic Johnson atop Pippen’s GOAT leaderboard. It’s his flip-flopping that makes Melo suspicious of Scottie’s takes.
“You can’t keep MJ as the GOAT this day and then LeBron is the GOAT, better than MJ this day. Oh, six years later, you know what, f**k both of them n***as, Magic is the GOAT… Whatever your opinion is, you can have it. But it’s like, you’re shooting shots at everybody that is like on the opposite side,” Anthony added.
Some consistency would certainly help solidify the six-time NBA champion’s takes, but due to his constantly changing stance, Carmelo Anthony believes that Scottie Pippen is simply making the arguments that serve his anti-Jordan agenda at the time.
