Scottie Pippen is at it again
doubledragon
Posts: 23,033 ✭✭✭✭✭
This time Scottie Pippen says Michael Jordan is selfish, and he calls Phil Jackson a racist for drawing up the last shot for Toni Kukoc.
ProBasketballTalk | NBC Sports
Pippen calls Phil Jackson racist, Jordan selfish in interview
Scottie Pippen has been making the media rounds promoting his new bourbon brand (Digits) as well as an upcoming memoir (“Unguarded”), which means he wants to make some headlines and draw attention.
Mission accomplished.
While on the Dan Patrick Show Monday, Pippen doubled-down on a comment that former coach Phil Jackson was racist, plus threw an elbow at former teammate Michael Jordan.
The racism comment stemmed from something Pippen said in a GQ interview that is part of this media tour. Referring to a play from Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Knicks in 1994, when Jackson drew up a final shot for Toni Kukoc instead of him and Pippen legendarily refused to enter the game, Pippen said the play design was “a racial move to give [Kukoc, who is white] a rise.”
Patrick asked Pippen about that.
Patrick: “.. By saying it was a racial move then you’re calling Phil Jackson a racist.”
Pippen: “I don’t have a problem with that.”
Patrick: “Do you think Phil was?”
Pippen: “Oh yeah…”
Patrick tried to give Pippen an out from those comments, but the former Bull doubled down saying, “I was in the locker room with him, I was in practices with him; you’re looking from afar.”
Was Jackson’s decision to run a play for the sharpshooter Kukoc — a play the Bulls had run successfully previously in the season — based on racist intentions? From the outside, it doesn’t appear so. But Pippen would not be the first person to accuse Jackson of racial bias, including LeBron James and other current elite NBA players, who pushed back on Jackson calling LeBron mother and friends/business partners his “posse.”
Pippen also commented to Patrick on Michael Jordan leaving the Bulls to play baseball.
“Yeah, It was a big decision, but It was a selfish decision, but it was kind of who Michael Jordan was. That was a guy who believed he can do anything on his own.”
Is Pippen completely wrong here? Jordan certainly had the right to retire from the NBA and play baseball, and his NBA resume is unassailable. But Jordan walking away from his team after three championships and at the peak of his powers gets glossed over in the mythology of MJ. If he had done that in today’s 24-hour-news-cycle/social media world, the reaction would have blistering.
Pippen is now using it to get his name in headlines.
Comments
Here is what Scottie Pippen posted on Twitter concerning everything he's been saying lately:
Scottie Pippen:
I’m just answering the questions y’all asking me. You wanted the headlines, you got them - dig deeper to find out why I actually said what I said instead of framing your questions to get clicks. It’s all love! 💜
lil late on this one, dd. check the other pippen thread. 😉
Dang it!
i will say i wasnt aware that he just had a son die and that since his wife left and started cheating.
i’d prolly be pretty angry and hit the bottle hard for a lil while myself. not making any excuses but can certainly understand being pissed and ultimately human.
this could actually get even more interesting. color me cynical, but i have always been of the belief that MJ was silently suspended from the league for two seasons due to his gambling addiction. i will never, ever believe that arguably the most competitive athlete of my time opted to leave his craft in his prime to go mario mendoza it up in the slums of baseball, as opposed to rattling off about 8 chips in a row. that makes less than zero sense to me.
with the way Pip is unleashing right now, i'd loveeeeeee for that cat to come flying out of the bag if he is even remotely privy
100% thats why. it was widely known that he had outstanding debts w mgm and all over the place that he never intended to pay back. they turned him in to the commishs office. the dude bet on everything. he even admitted to betting on everything. golf, quarters, cards, sports, etc.
and esp after the pete rose thing. this was detrimental to both him, the bulls and the league.
only difference w rose is that the nba actually took care of its own vs mlb tossing him under the bus.
I didn't realize all of that either, he has been hitting the bottle because there was a photo of him recently with a glass of bourbon and it was 9:00 in the morning, a strange time to be drinking bourbon.
one could say that was likely a product placement of his new bourbon coming out. either way terrible look. and dayum yall for making me defend this guy!
I listened to some clips of him on the Dan Patrick show. He actually sounded drunk. Maybe I'm way off, but that was the impression I got.
Never overestimate the intelligence of a professional athlete. LOL
What better way for Scottie to promote his new book than to throw out a ton of hot takes.
Eric
Erikthredd’s MJ Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/publishedset/395035
Erikthredd’s Nike Air Jordan Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/basketball/key-card-sets/nike-poster-cards-michael-jordan-1985-1992/alltimeset/408486
Pippen is just mad he didn't get an invite from Jordan to go cruising on the boat.
See, this is the new fad in the world. Let's just run everyone down to a fizzle and make them the bad guy forevermore. You don't ever call out a person in public , after having a working relationship with people. He's a Jose Canseco now lol. What does Pippen prove besides weakness?