Scottie Pippen Needs a Hug
Hurt people hurt people. And Scottie Pippen is hurt.
Oh boy…
After I watched The Last Dance in 2020, I predicted Scottie Pippen’s tell-all would be coming.
Now it’s here.
Unguarded hits the shelves today – and Scottie’s not holding back.
As a basketball fan who grew up during the Chicago Bulls domination in the 1990s, I devoured The Last Dance when it came out last year.
I remember the squeaky clean ‘If I Could Be Like Mike’ era – when the charismatic superstar Michael Jordan was pushing McDonald’s and Hanes, shooting hoops with Bugs Bunny, and dominating the NBA.
Back then the Bulls were larger than life – with the incredible talents of MJ, Pippen, and Dennis Rodman.
Scottie Pippen was a great player – who just happened to play alongside THE greatest player at the time (and arguably of all time).
Jordan himself credited Pippen’s basketball abilities in the first episode of The Last Dance when he said:
“Whenever they speak Michael Jordan, they should speak Scottie Pippen. When everybody says, well, I won all these championships, but I didn’t win without Scottie Pippen. That’s why I consider him my best teammate of all time.”
But then…
The series recognized Pippen was a great player, but like Jordan, didn’t just include his highlight reel.
The Last Dance reminded viewers of an incident that happened in the 1994 playoffs, when Jordan was no longer part of the team. When Coach Phil Jackson chose Toni Kukoc to take the final shot in Game 3 against the Knicks, Pippen felt slighted.
And Pippen responded by sitting on the bench for the last 1.8 seconds of the game. (Kukoc hit the shot and the Bulls won the game, though they lost the series, 4-3).
If Pippen wanted to establish himself as the leader of the team post-MJ, this story offered a strong counterargument.
Pippen may have felt further slighted when viewers were reminded how a migraine kept him from playing in the final playoff game in 1990. The Bulls lost that game – and the championship – to the Pistons. This was possibly harder to swallow when juxtaposed against the reminder of the 1997 ‘Flu Game’, when his Airness scored 38 points despite ‘food poisoning.’
Then there were the complaints about Pippen’s contract and low salary that seemed to come up constantly in the series. While it was understandable that Pippen felt underpaid, his complaints about a deal (that even the Bulls owner discouraged him from taking) grew tiring.
And then there was Pippen’s decision to delay surgery in the off-season, which added more pressure to MJ (and the rest of the team) who had to start the season without Pip. Jordan called the decision ‘selfish,’ and Pippen’s response that he wasn’t going to ‘fuck my summer up’ did little to earn him sympathy.
So yeah, Pippen didn’t get a great edit. I can understand why he would be hurt and angry.
He was an incredible player, but The Last Dance showed choices he made that weren’t going to endear him to audiences.
But you know who else you could say that about?
Michael Jordan.
Jordan is a fantastic athlete. He had the talent, drive, and love for the game that made him a champion. But he’s not the innocent, sweet Mike advertisers led us to believe in the 1990s.
The Last Dance showed he was competitive to the point of ridiculous. At times, he came across as cruel. As a bully. He showed us that leadership – and winning – had a price.
So Pippen revealing in his book that Michael was ‘selfish and insensitive’?
Not new information, folks.
And despite Pippen earning nearly $108 million from the NBA, he is still complaining about money. While most people probably agree he was underpaid for his time with the Bulls, he got his payday when he signed with Houston ($67.2 million) and then later with Portland.
In fact, Michael Jordan may be a billionaire now, and the highest paid athlete of all time – but he made most of that money off the court. Jordan’s NBA earnings were $94 million.
That’s right, Scottie Pippen earned more from the NBA than Michael Jordan.
But now Pippen is complaining that MJ was paid $10 million to do The Last Dance, while he and other players received nothing. These players are all adults, with managers and agents and lawyers, and a familiarity of how contracts and deals work.
If they wanted to get paid for their interviews, they could have insisted on it – or chosen not to participate. It would have been a different program without all the other players sharing their stories, and The Last Dance is richer for their inclusion.
But if they were unpaid for their participation, that’s on them. You made the deal – don’t complain about it now.
I had a lot of sympathy for Pippen after watching The Last Dance, but I don’t feel sorry that a multi-millionaire did an unpaid interview.
Pippen and others chose to participate because they had something to gain.
The Last Dance didn’t just relive MJ’s glory – it reminded us of the great players of that era. Millions of people learned about John Paxson, Steve Kerr, Horace Grant, Bill Cartwright and so many other stars of the NBA.
The Last Dance was made because Jordan agreed to it. Whatever he was paid to participate (reports earlier said $3-4 million) but what is that to a billionaire? Pocket change. He didn’t do it for the money (and has donated at least some of his Last Dance earnings to charity).
He did it to remind people why he was so great – and introduce a new generation to his talent.
Maybe we’d look at Jordan and Pippen differently if Kareem Abdul-Jabbar or Wilt Chamberlain had a 10-part series about their days on the court.
I loved The Last Dance, but let’s be clear – it was not a Ken Burns documentary. It was Michael Jordan’s story – told by Michael Jordan. It showed the world how incredible Jordan was on the court – and also how magical that time was for the Bulls, and the sport of basketball.
And guess what?
It worked.
It reminded people of Jordan’s greatness – and Pippen’s and the 1990s Bulls.
And they all got lucky that it aired during a pandemic when live sports were cancelled. People were stuck at home and desperate for a distraction – particularly one that dug into the nostalgia and comforted us during such uncertain times.
Pippen may not have had the best edit, but The Last Dance (and Jordan) still reminded people that he was a great player. I don’t know what he hopes to gain now by throwing Jordan and John Paxson under the bus.
It feels like the Game 3 of the 1994 playoffs all over again.
Pippen feels disrespected. Hurt. Angry.
And instead of sitting on the bench, he’s putting his grievances out there in black and white for all to see.
It will probably get him attention and make him some money.
But I don’t think it will ease his pain.
In the end, the release of Unguarded reminds us that Pippen is a lot like Jordan.
A tremendous athlete – and a flawed human being.
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Beth Collier helps people improve their communication, creativity, and leadership skills through private coaching and team workshops. She brings global corporate experience, Midwestern practicality and enthusiasm – and an endless supply of pop culture references to keep things fun!
She loves basketball, and her left arm is often recognized from its starring role in the basketball movie, Hoosiers.
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