michael-jordan-steve-kerr-scottie-pippen© Provided by BasketballNetwork.net
After watching “The Last Dance,” Scottie Pippen was left disappointed with the documentary’s bias towards Michael Jordan, noting that his contributions to the Chicago Bulls’ iconic run were often downplayed or omitted.
One such instance happened in Game 6 of the 1997 NBA Finals when Scottie made a crucial defensive play against the Utah Jazz to help the Bulls secure their sixth NBA championship. However, the documentary decided to focus solely on what preceded it.
Pippen felt MJ did nothing heroic
With Chicago holding a narrow 88-86 lead, the Jazz had the last possession to tie the game, or potentially steal the win. However, Pippen stole the inbound pass and passed the ball to Toni Kukoc for the game-sealing dunk.
Although this play was briefly mentioned in “The Last Dance,” the legendary forward feels it didn’t get the recognition it deserved. Instead, the documentary focused on MJ’s pass to Steve Kerr, who hit the shot to put the Bulls up by two with just over five seconds left in the game.
For all his greatness in clutch situations, this wasn’t the first time Jordan trusted his teammate to deliver on the NBA’s biggest stage. In Game 5 of the 1991 Finals, he passed the ball to John Paxson, who hit the 18-foot jumper to secure Chicago’s first NBA championship
However, according to Scottie, there was nothing admirable about either of those plays. That’s why the glorification of the one from the 1997 Finals rubbed him the wrong way.
“There was nothing heroic about what Michael did. Finding the open man was what Phil and Tex drilled into us from day one,” Pippen wrote in his book ‘Unguarded.’
The doc didn’t do Scottie justice
This wasn’t the only thing from “The Last Dance” the legendary forward criticized. From pointing out that the greatest trash-talk line ever did not make the cut to implying that MJ deliberately left out one potentially legacy-tarnishing moment from the 1992 Finals, Scottie expressed overall disappointment with the entire project.
Instead of using it to celebrate one of the best dynasties in NBA history, Pip implied that Jordan, who wielded editorial control, used the documentary primarily to prove to everyone he’s the greatest basketball player ever.
“Bottom line: the doc fails to give my Hall of Fame career the treatment it deserves,” Pippen added.
The legendary forward had hoped that their friendship would prevent Mike from enhancing his GOAT status at the expense of overshadowing his contributions. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. As a result, Pip and MJ are no longer on good terms, despite being arguably the greatest duo in NBA history.
