Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen battled together on the NBA hardwood for 10 seasons. Now, they no longer wear the same jersey, and they don't seem to hide it.
Pippen was appearing on Stacey King's "Gimme the Hot Sauce" podcast recently when the former Bull asked Pippen to rank where he would put LeBron James among the league's greatest players.
The six-time champion and NBA Hall of Fame inductee responded by saying, "There is not a greatest player," adding that basketball is a team game.
MORE: The Ultimate GOAT Scorecard: Year-by-year with MJ and LeBron
Pippen followed up by saying that he'd put himself in that category, if asked — before declaring that when James walks away from basketball, he'll be the best "statistical player" to ever play the game. He used that as an opportunity to renew his off-the-court rivalry with Jordan.
"I (saw) Michael Jordan play before I came to play with the Bulls," Pippen said. "You guys (saw) him play. He was a horrible player. He was horrible to play with. He was all one-on-one, he was shooting bad shots. And all of a sudden, we become a team and we start winning and everybody forgot who he was.”
#Bulls Scottie Pippen: “LeBron James will be the greatest statistical [player] to ever play the game of basketball. [Michael Jordan] was a horrible player.” pic.twitter.com/j3bQ8rWcte
— Die-Hard Chicago Bulls Fans (@DieHardCBfans) May 26, 2023
Pippen has been notoriously outspoken about his disgust over the spotlight Jordan received, even making mention of it in his memoir, "Unguarded."
When did Scottie Pippen join the Bulls?
Pippen joined the Bulls in 1987 after Chicago selected him fifth overall in that year's draft. He went on to play 12 seasons in the Windy City, including the 1993-94 season after Jordan retired to play minor league baseball.
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Pippen averaged 22 points, 8.7 rebounds and 5.6 assists while leading the Bulls to a 55-27 record that year. Chicago lost to the Knicks in seven games in the second round.
Reaction to Pippen's comments about Jordan to King sparked an NBA Twitter frenzy Friday night.
As we can clearly see, Michael Jordan had a scoring title and was a three time all-star before Scottie Pippen started playing for the Bulls. pic.twitter.com/7OOB54VCZ9
— Jeff Caldwell, II (@JSCaldwell2) May 26, 2023
Hate to see Scottie going out like this
— Brett Usher (@UsherNBA) May 26, 2023
Watching this makes me genuinely sad. Scottie brought so much joy to so many people. The fact that it all left him with such bitterness is a terrible shame. https://t.co/RHvmbm085V
— Mike Greenberg (@Espngreeny) May 26, 2023
MJ fans after Scottie Pippen said LeBron is the GOAT pic.twitter.com/vP3rdY6IKn
— Josiah Johnson (@KingJosiah54) May 26, 2023
Scottie: MJ was a horrible player before I showed up
— Anthony Puccio (@APOOCH) May 26, 2023
MJ the season before Scottie showed up (1986-87):
🏀 37.1 PPG
🏀 5.2 RPG
🏀 4.6 APG
🏀 2.9 SPG
🏆 Scoring Champ
He was 23 years old…
Scottie Pippen: “Michael Jordan was a horrible player, he was horrible to play with!”
— UK Chicago Bulls (@UKChicagoBulls) May 26, 2023
Scottie Pippen at the time begging MJ to come out to retirement to play with him again… pic.twitter.com/4TCWdjSJgx
Scottie and MJ’s relationship really fell off a cliff compared to this
— PointsBet Sportsbook (@PointsBetUSA) May 27, 2023
pic.twitter.com/6L41R2YnQH
