Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen formed a brilliant partnership at the Chicago Bulls, one that led the team to 6 NBA titles.
Advertisement
The duo excelled in complimenting each other, with Michael taking most of the onus with respect to the offensive plays, and Pippen using his reach to guard any and every offensive star across the league.
Chicago Bulls dominated the league in the 90s and both Pippen and Jordan were at the helm of affairs at the Bulls at that time.
Now, with Pippen being the defensive legend that he is, on ESPN’s podcast, he was obviously quizzed about Harden’s ‘unguardable’ step back 3, a move that has taken the NBA by storm this season.
Michael Jordan (reportedly) shot 142/174 (82%) on fadeaway jump shots in 2002 & 2003 combined.
That is so insane that I'm questioning the accuracy of this database (NBA/.com).
—  (@PlayoffDWade) January 10, 2019
Ed Davis guesses Kobe Bryant's shot to pass Michael Jordan will be "ISO pump fake fadeaway"
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) December 10, 2014
James Harden is playing on another level this season, tormenting defences with that step back 3, not letting teams settle into any kind of defensive rhythm whenever he gets the ball.
His ability to drive to the rim and unleash that step back 3 keeps defenders on their toes and makes him simply unstoppable.
Now, while discussing some of the most unguardable plays in the history of NBA, the obvious question that cropped up was which Michael Jordan move did ‘Scottie-the defensive legend’ find unguardable.
Scottie admitted that the famous Michale Jordan fadeaway was one move that he and most defends had no answer to.
The hump fade to the baseline was one of Jordan’s favourite moves, one that he dished out regularly during clutch situations.
Check out the video:
Scottie Pippen reveals Michael Jordan's most unguardable move | The Jump… https://t.co/SqPWB8x3co via @YouTube
— Utkarsh Bhatla (@UtkarshBhatla) January 26, 2019
In the podcast a lot of other unguardable moves were also mentioned, especially Kareem’s famous sky hook, one that became so popular in the NBA after he started using it on a regular basis.
Pippen couldn’t believe why the current crop of players were not using it more often, because the move did guarantee a good enough player an almost 100% scoring opportunity.
Later though, Pippen admitted that maybe coaches and players now did not know the move well enough to teach the younger generation.
Everyone is acting like Lebron invented the fadeaway shot. He's trying to imitate his hero, the GREATEST PLAYER OF ALL TIME – Michael Jordan.
— Luceo Non Uro (@thoughtsinnate) May 4, 2018
@ImMrCochran "Michael Jordan only shot so well because it was a fadeaway so it was tough to block"
— William Ketchum III (@WEKetchum) June 9, 2015
Shaq’s post up too was considered an unguaradable move by Pippen, Zach Lowe and Rachel Nicholls.
When Shaq used to get a ball, especially on the low post, one defender wasn’t enough to guard him. A double team used to become an absolute necessity, and when you need to do that for the entire game, Shaq was able to score and set up plays for his team at will.
Which Michael Jordan move do you think was the most unguardable?