Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen are among the most iconic duos in the history of the NBA League. Together, they won six NBA titles and had two three-peats as members of the Chicago Bulls. But it is safe to say there is no love lost between the former teammates.
Pippen has long been critical of Jordan, taking offense at the fact that Jordan is credited with leading the Bulls to the titles and him being portrayed as his sidekick. Pippen previously made comments in which he took aim at Jordan on several occasions and has recently doubled down on them during his appearance on Gimme the hot sauce! podcast.
When asked about who should be considered the greatest player of all time (GOAT) by host Stacey King, Pippen said he believes basketball is a team sport. He mentioned several players that are up for discussion and then focused on Jordan, who is currently considered the basketball GOAT by the majority of fans.
Pippen said that Jordan shouldn’t be in the conversation because he was a “horrible player” before the two teamed up.
“I’ve seen Michael Jordan play before I came to play with the Bulls,” Pippen said. “He was a horrible player. He was horrible to play with. He was all 1-on-1. He was shooting bad shots. And all of a sudden, we become a team, and we start winning.”
Although not a lot of people will share Pippen’s opinion, it is true that Michael Jordan’s first three seasons with the Bulls didn’t amount to a lot of winning. He failed to get out of the first round in NBA playoffs during that period, and Chicago only started making deep playoff runs when Pippen landed with the franchise in 1987–88.
However, some would argue that it was actually Phil Jackson who got it all together, as the legendary coach won the NBA title in his second season at the helm before winning five more in the next seven years.
