“Scottie Pippen is Versatile on Offense and Defense”: When Michael Jordan crowned ‘underpaid’ 6ft 8″ teammate king of holding Bulls post

The 1990s were dominated by Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. MJ and his team won six of the ten championships in the decade.

Jordan and the Bulls were nigh unstoppable. They were polarizing on the court and extremely fun to watch.

However, in the years leading up to their dominance, they struggled to make an impact. Jordan recognized the lack of a defensive presence. But, luckily for him, he had the versatile Scottie Pippen.

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Michael Jordan was thankful he had 6’8″ versatile forward Scottie Pippen on his team

In the 90s, there were certain kinds of players that teams needed in order to thrive. One such player was the low post defender. A player to stop opposing teams in the paint.

Something that the Bulls and Michael Jordan were aware they lacked. However, His Airness was not too worried. He revealed in Roland Lazenby’s book, Michael Jordan: The Life, that while they did not have a pure low post defender, they did have the versatile offensive and defensive capabilities of Scottie Pippen.

“It was pointed out to Jordan that most great NBA teams had a dominant low post defender, someone to stop other teams in the paint. “We don’t have that kind of animal,” he admitted. “But I think Pippen compensates for that. I don’t think any of those teams, other than maybe the ’86 Boston Celtics, had a small forward that was as versatile on offense and defense as Scottie Pippen is.”

That being said, Pippen, despite all his talents felt he was underappreciated and underpaid. Although his career earnings in comparison to Jordan say otherwise.

Scottie Pippen had more career earnings than His Airness did

One of the major complaints Scottie Pippen had throughout his career is that he felt he was underpaid. However, when comparing his career earnings to that of his superstar teammate Michael Jordan, Pippen has earned far more. A whole $16,184,930 more.

To be fair, Pippen did play two more seasons than Jordan, and MJ did have a ton of brand deals. Nevertheless, it is an interesting tidbit.

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