Scottie Pippen isn’t holding back!
The former Chicago Bulls star is hitting out against his longtime superstar teammate Michael Jordan in his new book Unguarded. And the legendary small forward has a LOT to say about Air Jordan’s infamous Netflix documentary The Last Dance especially!
Related: Scottie Mourns Firstborn Son Antron After His Death At Just 33 Years Old
In a short excerpt from the forthcoming book published this week in GQ, the former basketball star takes aim at his longtime teammate. It all proves that there can still be a LOT of bad blood between two people even after coming together to win six NBA titles in an eight-year stretch and making boatloads of money along the way.
Specifically, Pippen takes issues with The Last Dance and its effect on a viewing population eager to re-live some of the nostalgia of classic 1990s-style NBA basketball. Miffed at how he is portrayed in Jordan’s 10-part docuseries, and frustrated that his world-famous teammate was given the ability to tell that story as he saw fit, Pip addresses it all in the excerpt.
At one point, he writes:
“[Netflix] glorified Michael Jordan while not giving nearly enough praise to me and my proud team-mates. Michael deserved a large portion of the blame. The producers had granted him editorial control of the final product. The doc couldn’t have been released otherwise. He was the leading man and the director.”
Larsa Pippen‘s ex didn’t stop there, either!
Comparing Jordan unfavorably to today’s biggest superstar, LeBron James, Scottie accused MJ of producing the whole thing just to keep the spotlight on himself rather than the current Los Angeles Lakers star:
“Except Michael was determined to prove to the current generation of fans that he was larger-than-life during his day — and still larger than LeBron James, the player many consider his equal, if not superior.”
Wow. Those are some serious fighting words! That alone could cause a boiling hot feud… but the 56-year-old continues:
“Even in the second episode, which focused for a while on my difficult upbringing and unlikely path to the NBA, the narrative returned to MJ and his determination to win. I was nothing more than a prop. His ‘best team-mate of all time,’ he called me. He couldn’t have been more condescending if he tried.”
That last sentence… Jeez!!! It makes sense he would feel that way after being getting the moniker “Robin” to Jordan’s “Batman” for all those years.
Related: Michael Jordan Shares Final Text Message With Kobe Bryant That He ‘Just Can’t Delete’
Pippen really gets his momentum going after that, admitting plainly:
“Michael and I aren’t close and never have been.”
That’s shocking, considering how long they played together, but, there you have it!
Scottie wraps up the excerpt with a flourish too, explaining how everything came full circle with the docuseries because of “the Errorless Jordan”:
“Each episode was the same: Michael on a pedestal, his team-mates secondary, smaller, the message no different from when he referred to us back then as his ‘supporting cast.’ From one season to the next, we received little or no credit whenever we won but the bulk of the criticism when we lost. Michael could shoot six for 24 from the field, commit five turnovers, and he was still, in the minds of the adoring press and public, the Errorless Jordan. Now here I was, in my mid-50s, 17 years since my final game, watching us being demeaned once again. Living through it the first time was insulting enough.”
Damn!
What do U think about this increasingly intense rivalry, Perezcious readers??
Shoot your shot down in the comments (below)…
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