Before the 1997-98 season, Chicago Bulls star Scottie Pippen was faced with a dilemma. He had previously injured his ankle toward the tail end of the previous campaign, and the doctors suggested that he immediately undergo surgery over the summer to repair the damage.

The seven-time All-Star was not having it, and during the airing of the highly anticipated “The Last Dance” documentary on Sunday, Pippen explained exactly why he decided not to go under the knife right away:

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The full quote via Bleacher Report:

“I had a ruptured tendon in my ankle, and I decided to have surgery late because I was like, ‘You know what? I'm not gonna f–k my summer up trying to rehab for a season, you know?'” Pippen said in the documentary. “They're not gonna be looking forward to having me, so I'mma enjoy my summer, and I'll use the season to prepare.”

That's as honest an answer as you're going to get. Pippen was upset with the Bulls' front office at the time because of a contract squabble, and he just wanted to enjoy his summer break instead in order to stick it to them.

Pippen would have been ready for the next campaign had he opted to undergo surgery early in the offseason. But he wound up undergoing surgery in October and missed the start of the 1997-98 season.

Michael Jordan expressed his displeasure with the decision on the documentary, but head coach Phil Jackson actually backed Pippen's choice. Perhaps this shouldn't be a surprise given Jackson had his own issues with the front office.

Pippen still went on to have a tremendous season for the Bulls during the '97-98 campaign, averaging 19.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 1.8 steals, and a block in 44 games played. More importantly, he helped the Bulls to a second three-peat.

To say that “The Last Dance” was a smashing success would be an understatement. Two episodes in and we're all hooked. We just can't wait for the release of the next couple of episodes next Sunday, and we're pretty certain everybody else is in the same boat.