Scottie Pippen’s memoir seems to throw some big Michael Jordan shade
By
Jenna Lemoncelli
June 9, 2021 | 3:17pm |
Updated
Scottie Pippen is telling
his side of the Bulls dynasty story.
The Hall of Famer will expose “stories I’ve kept to myself for years” in his tell-all memoir “UNGUARDED” — out this November — including his rings run with the ’90s Bulls alongside Michael Jordan, which resulted in six championships.
In the
description of the book, Pippen appears to take a few jabs at Jordan and his leadership skills, among other things.
“Simply put, without Pippen, there are no championship banners — let alone six — hanging from the United Center rafters. There’s no
‘The Last Dance’ documentary,” the description reads in reference to Jordan’s ESPN docu-series about the ’90s Bulls championship seasons.
“There’s no ‘Michael Jordan’ as we know him. The 1990s Chicago Bulls teams would not exist as we know them.”
Pippen has publicly
expressed his disdain for how the story was told in the “The Last Dance” six-part series, which was co-produced by Jordan’s Jump 23 company.
Scottie Pippen didn’t agree with how Michael Jordan portrayed the Bulls’ success in ‘The Last Dance.’Getty Images
“Pippen details how he cringed at being labeled Jordan’s sidekick, and discusses how
he could have (and should have) received more respect from the Bulls’ management and the media,” the “UNGUARDED” description reads.
“He discusses what it was like dealing with Jordan on a day-to-day basis, while serving as the
real leader within the Bulls locker room.”
Pippen and Jordan were teammates in Chicago from 1987 to 1993 and again from 1995 to 1998. Jordan presented Pippen when he was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010, and the two
reunited publicly in 2017, for an event at Jordan’s Flight School camp in California.
Though, Pippen’s feelings toward his old teammate
seemed to turn sour after the release of the “The Last Dance” in April 2020, which painted Pippen as Jordan’s blatant number two.
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Scottie Pippen ‘livid’ at Michael Jordan for ‘Last Dance’ portrayal
Late last year, Pippen revealed he wasn’t a fan of how the documentary turned out.
“I don’t think it was that accurate in terms of really defining what was accomplished in one of the greatest eras of basketball, but also by two of the greatest players – and one could even put that aside and say the greatest team of all time,” Pippen told
The Guardian in December 2020.
“I didn’t think those things stood out in the documentary. I thought it was more about Michael trying to uplift himself and to be glorified. I think it also backfired to some degree in that people got a chance to see what kind of personality Michael had,” he explained.
Pippen, in the same interview, said he
confronted Jordan over his feelings about the documentary.
“I told him I wasn’t too pleased with it. He accepted it. He said, ‘Hey, you’re right.’ That was pretty much it,” Pippen recalled.
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Other topics Pippen covers in the book include growing up in Arkansas, his college days at UCA, getting drafted in 1987, transparent takes on his former coach Phil Jackson, rival Isiah Thomas, among others, as well as other behind-the-scenes moments from the locker room.
Scottie Pippen’s “UNGUARDED” memoir will release on November 16, and is available for pre-order now.
www.simonandschuster.com
