“Such nonsense, I’m going to kick your a** Scottie Pippen”: When Michael Jordan was infuriated with his Bulls teammate for missing practice due to his cat’s death

Michael Jordan said he wanted to kick Scottie Pippen’s a** after hearing that he would skip practice to mourn his cat’s death. 

During the Chicago Bulls’ heyday in the 1990s, no one outside of the NBA would be able to sniff out any sort of a disconnect between Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen. They were seen as the perfect ‘Batman and Robin’ duo whilst winning their six championships, which they were, make no mistake about that. 

However, as time has gone on, especially in these past 18 months, many things about their relationship off the court have started to unravel. Scottie Pippen, for the most part, has been taking shots at Michael Jordan, claiming he didn’t like the way his Bulls teammates were represented in the ‘Last Dance’ docuseries.

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He would also go on to say that his games with a bad back were much more impressive than Jordan’s iconic ‘Flu Game’. Overall, Pippen claims that they weren’t exactly friends in real life. Here’s one anecdote that may prove the same. 

Michael Jordan was furious with Scottie Pippen for missing practice due to his cat’s death. 

Roland Lazenby, the man who wrote the Michael Jordan biography, detailed on how one particular occasion, Scottie Pippen would skip practice following the death of his cat. Horace Grant at the time, would also join him in mourning, siding up for his teammate. 

According to Lazenby, Chicago Bulls assistant coach, Johnny Bach, was furious with this decision Pippen had made, as a rookie. He called Grant and said, “You get here. You oughta throw the cat in the garbage can.”

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Knowing Jordan’s affinity towards practice, he was simply not having it with Scottie Pippen. He reportedly said that he wanted to kick Pip’s a** while complaining about the whole ordeal. 

Mind you, this was Pippen’s rookie season and so any tiff he had with Michael Jordan would probably get ironed out in the future. Supposedly.