Scottie Pippen Keeps It Real On Friendship With Michael Jordan
Scottie Pippen Keeps It Real On Michael Jordan: “It Was Never A Very Close Relationship”
Scottie Pippen was one of the greatest players in the NBA and in 2010, he was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. In what might be surprising to viewers of The Last Dance, the 2020 ESPN doc that covered the Bulls’ championship teams, Michael Jordan was the player who inducted him into the Hall.
Though it riveted the captive audience that gave it record ratings during the pandemic, many Bulls players felt Jordan took credit for the team’s success by diminishing their contributions. Pippen, Robin to Jordan’s Batman during those years, was the most outspoken. Jordan produced the doc, and Pippen felt that his involvement led to he and his teammates being reduced to the supporting cast.
But at his HOF induction ceremony, Pippen said, “What an honor it is for me as a basketball player to have the all-time great presenting me here tonight. It was so valuable to me as a player to see someone who had the same desire, determination, passion, and love for the game.”
He added, “Who knew that number 23 would be here 23 years later presenting me into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. MJ, you have touched so many people’s lives, but none like mine. Thank you for being the best teammate. I will always cherish that experience, and I will cherish our relationship forever. Thank you.”
But in a new interview with Spanish outlet Marca, Pippen says now that despite winning six championships together, the two were more coworkers than friends.
“It was never a very close relationship,” he said while in Spain last week as an ambassador for The Sanitas Foundation, promoting inclusivity in sports. “But when we played, we had great chemistry. That’s the way this business is. Same with Phil Jackson. We’re not close friends anymore. That’s life, things change.”
While Pippen has had his share of harsh things to say about his former teammate, he does acknowledge his greatness.
“You look at the MVPs he was able to achieve, but I think it was all brought from us being successful as a team,” he told Australia’s Today Show in 2024. “Obviously, someone’s gonna bring those accolades home, but he was the greatest player in basketball.”
And while they may not be BFFs, and maybe Jordan did make it seem like the Bulls were a one-man band during those championship years, he did give Pippen his props in The Last Dance, saying he was “his greatest teammate of all time.”
Well, just don’t expect to see them play any golf together. Regardless of their current relationship – or lack of one, their winning legacy lives forever.
Watch Pippen’s interview with Marca above where he also dishes on which current superstar players could have made it in the league in the ’80s and ’90s.
See social media’s reaction to the ongoing frictions between the two HOFers below.
