Michael Jordan, in an interview with SLAM Magazine, once let it be known that if he had $5 to watch anybody, he’d watch Scottie Pippen.
Advertisement
Michael Jordan had not won a single Playoff series until Jerry Krause and the Bulls front office drafted Scottie Pippen in the 1987 NBA Draft. First round losses to the Bucks and the Celtics from 1985-87 led to MJ gaining postseason experience but nothing more than that.
During those 1988 Playoffs, they would advance past the Cleveland Cavaliers in dramatic fashion and lose to the Detroit Pistons in the second round. This was progress and before the NBA knew it, the Bulls became the most dominant team of an entire decade.
This was all due to the fact that Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen fit together better than any other duo in the league at the time. Two All-NBA offensive talents who were coincidentally two of the greatest perimeter defenders of their generation? A bit too much for any team to handle.
Along the way, the two built incredible chemistry with one another, resulting in a great friendship off the court.
Michael Jordan revealed that he would watch Scottie Pippen if he had merely $5 to watch any player of his choosing play.
Michael Jordan played 859 games with Scottie Pippen in the NBA and yet, he would apparently want to see him play if given the opportunity to choose between any other existing players. In an interview with SLAM Magazine in 1996, Jordan was asked, “If you had $5, who would you pay to see play ball?”
MJ’s response was, “I would pay to see Scottie Pippen play. I think he is the ultimate team player. A guy that can score, pass, rebound, and play defense. I also think he’s great to have in the locker room. We have been closer this year and I have really enjoyed that.”
This certainly was quite the cheeky response from Michael given that this interview was around the time the Bulls were gearing up for the 1996 Playoffs. So, building even more chemistry with his players using compliments would go a long way.
At the same time however, Michael Jordan truly did love playing alongside Pippen, stating the same in a multitude of interviews over the decades. MJ even shut down a trade that would’ve sent Shawn Kemp over to the Bulls in exchange for Pippen to the Sonics, claiming he wouldn’t feel as comfortable with Kemp as he did with Pip.
Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen have a falling out.
Despite all the accolades and camaraderie that Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen experienced together, the two would eventually have quite the public falling out. Last year, in an attempt to promote his memoir, Pip revealed several aspects about MJ that bothered him.
Everything from him ‘ruining the game’ with his isolation plays to him being annoyed with his portrayal on the ‘Last Dance’ docuseries was aired out by the former Blazer. Jordan never responded directly to these statements by Scottie but his silence does speak volumes.
