“My trash talk towards Karl Malone was the greatest line in NBA history”: Scottie Pippen defended his own ‘Mailman doesn’t deliver on Sunday’ line from the Bulls Finals win

Scottie Pippen believed that his trash talk directed towards Karl Malone in 1997 was the greatest line said in NBA history. 

When compared to his partner in crime, Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen was much more reserved when it came to feuds on and off NBA hardwood. Pippen worked in silence and while he wasn’t as hilarious as Tim Duncan when it comes to silent trash-talking, he certainly made his presence felt by just being a really good player on both ends. 

When Pippen did however decide to talk trash to players, he hit them with absolute heavy hitters. Perhaps the most impactful trash-talking line in Chicago Bulls history would come from Scottie Pippen getting in Karl Malone’s head during the 1997 NBA Finals.

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Game 1 saw the bout get tied at 82 a piece. With about 9.2 seconds left in the game, Karl ‘The Mailman’ Malone took to the charity stripe for two crucial free throws. Pippen decided to play a few mind games with Malone and whispered in his ear, “The Mailman doesn’t deliver on Sundays.” 

Malone would miss both his free throws despite being a decent, 74% shooter from the free throw line, and set up Michael Jordan for the game-clinching shot from the left wing. 

Scottie Pippen praises this trash-talk of his on Karl Malone. 

Karl Malone and the Utah Jazz would face off against Scottie Pippen and the Chicago Bulls once again the following year in the NBA Finals in 1998. Unfortunately for John Stockton and company, this Finals yielded the same result as the previous, with them winning one extra game but ultimately falling to the Bulls.

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Throwing it back to that incredibly impactful trash-talk from Pippen towards Malone; over 20 years later, the former would come out to say that he believes that one line of his is the greatest trash-talk that’s ever been said on NBA hardwood. 

There’s a lot of candidates to choose from when it comes to this. There’s the Reggie Miller ‘choke’ directed towards Spike Lee, Kevin Garnett ‘Happy Mother’s Day’ line to Tim Duncan, and many more, 

In terms of high stakes combined with a pretty perfectly delivered line, this one from Scottie Pippen is definitely up there.