Recently, Dominique Wilkins sat down for an interview with VladTV. Delving into his life on the basketball court and outside of it, the Human Highlight Reel spoke about many things. At one point during the interview, Wilkins was presented with a clip of former Chicago Bull John Salley claiming that Scottie Pippen was the most skilled player he had ever played with. Wilkins respectfully contested the claim. While he does not deny Pippen’s skillset on the court, Michael Jordan was the most skilled player on the 90s’ Chicago Bulls team, in his estimation.
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Pippen was an exceptionally skilled player. A typical point forward, he had handles, playmaking ability, defensive skills, and scoring potential, that made him one of the best out there. In many people’s eyes, he is undeniably one of the greatest players of all time. However, his skillset couldn’t be compared to that of Michael Jeffrey Jordan, who was always in a class of his own, according to Wilkins.
Dominique Wilkins claims Michael Jordan was substantially more skilled than Scottie Pippen
Dominique Wilkins recently shared his thoughts on the ongoing beef between Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen. Things had reached a place recently whereby Pippen had resorted to undermine Jordan’s game to justify his own potential. This is something that does not sit well with the Atlanta Hawks legend.
Speaking on VladTV, Wilkins respectfully rejected claims that Pippen is the most skilled player of all time. While he does commend the Bulls legend for his ability, he does not believe that he is the greatest. Instead, that title, in his opinion, belongs to none other than His Airness.
Over the course of his 15 seasons in the NBA, Wilkins has come across many skilled players. The likes of Larry Bird, Kobe Bryant, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Hakeem Olajuwon, and many others come to mind. However, it’s Jordan whose skill impressed him the most, ahead of everyone else.
“Scottie was skilled, there’s no question about that. Nobody can take Scottie’s ability away from him. My only problem is the…negative undertone that this whole thing has taken. What are you hoping to get out of this? But, when we talk from a skill level, I don’t know too many people more skilled than Michael [Jordan].”
For the most part, it’s hard to deny Wilkins’ take. Very few players have presented themselves as worthy challengers to MJ’s claim as the greatest of all time. Even though Wilkins put MJ first in overall skill level, he also mentioned that Magic and Bird were right up there behind him.
Wilkins believes Scottie Pippen is wrong for calling MJ out
The whole situation between Scottie Pippen and Michael Jordan has gone out of hand. Pippen has been on bad terms with his former partner-in-crime ever since the release of The Last Dance documentary. He feels that the series put MJ on a pedestal while diminishing the role he and the other Bulls stars played in the Chicago side’s success.
Many would agree with Scottie on this front, but they also don’t like how he’s handling the situation. One such person who feels this way is Dominique Wilkins. Wilkins believes that Pippen is wrong for calling out Jordan. The Hawks legend further points out that while Pippen was integral to the Bulls dynasty, they would not have had success at the highest level if it weren’t for the GOAT.
As things stand now, the situation has not improved between Pippen and Jordan, and it likely never will. One can only hope that as time passes on the two can put their differences aside and can respect each other once more.
