When Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen played together, they were joined at the hip. But when a documentary tried to showcase it, that broke the camel’s back. It was the latter who had an issue with The Last Dance series and believed it was more to glorify the former. In fact, after that, Pip made sure to call MJ a “horrible teammate.” But recently, Scottie changed his stance and referred to Jordan as his favorite and best teammate. Is it a sign of things changing between the two?
For now, there is no certainty, but three decades ago, there was certainty. When Pippen called, His Airness was ready to answer and was even nervous and yet made his return. Before the story, let’s add some context. This was after the first three-peat with the Chicago Bulls, which also turned out to be Michael Jordan’s first retirement. To stay away from the limelight and to honor his father, MJ turned to baseball. But one thing at the time still remained unchecked: to give a farewell to the Bulls fans.
That’s why the 6x NBA champion was anxious upon his return to Chicago. As Andscape recently reported, “Imagine, if you will, arguably the greatest basketball player of all time on edge before tipoff, and it’s not even for Game 7 of the NBA Finals. Rather, it’s the Scottie Pippen Ameritech All-Star Classic at old Chicago Stadium.” The duo of MJ and Pippen never required Game 7 to win any of their 6 titles, as no game caused them to sweat. But a return to the All-Star game made Jordan nervous.
“Of all the times he’s been to the arena, he told me that’s the most nervous he’s ever been.” A close friend and sportscaster, Ahmad Rashad, was traveling with MJ to the Bulls’ facility on September 9th, 1994. Since it was a charity game, there were no stakes–other than entertaining 18,000 fans who were there to see him play one last time. The Chicago Stadium, which was the prior home before the United Center, had its last ever event, so His Airness made sure not to miss it.
To the fans who didn’t know he was back soon, they got a classic MJ as he dropped a game-high 52 points and played all 48 minutes. A fan even mentioned the emotional moment of the night. “when Michael took his final bow, went out there and kissed that Bull [logo] on the middle of the floor“. Yes, truly a touching display. Jordan was done with basketball at the time, but only came back since his friend called. But now, there are no such calls, ever since the 2020 Netflix release.
How Scottie Pippen wants to change the narrative about Michael Jordan and The Last Dance
When the docuseries came out, it was time for the fans to witness history. New fans who only hear stories about the Bulls’ greatness, witnessed it firsthand. And for the older fans, it was a trip down memory lane. In the Netflix series, MJ even dubbed Pip as his “best teammate.” But Pippen didn’t see it that way. In fact, he would release his memoir Unguarded, and accused Jordan of using the documentary to portray himself as “larger-than-life” for today’s fans. Later, he added to it by stating that the documentary focused on “Michael’s story” rather than the true essence of the 1997-98 Bulls season.
So how is Scottie Pippen changing it? By releasing his own series. Yes, that’s right. He’s teamed up with Hidden Empire Films to produce a new documentary about the 1990-1991 Chicago Bulls season—a time that was crucial in launching the dynasty. “I think it’s going to be more about the whole run of that season,” he said, emphasizing that it’s about their collective journey to that first championship.
So, Pippen clearly had some issues with Michael Jordan‘s documentary. And now claims to make it right by his other teammates and fans to portray the true locker room atmosphere. Now, the question remains, what side of Pip will the fans see? Will the “best teammate” of MJ do justice to his role, or will the underlying beef be visible to the fans?
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