It seems as if the relationship between Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen is untenable, especially with new comments by Stephen A. Smith on the PBD Podcast. Smith spoke on what appears to be a breaking point in their relationship fairly recently.
Stephen A. Smith says Michael Jordan feels betrayed by Scottie Pippen for not offering condolences after his father's murder
MJ’s quoted words are, “I hope it’s worth it for him. I have nothing else to say.”😳
(Via @PBDsPodcast / h/t @NBABeyondCourt )
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) March 30, 2024
Pippen has been very vocal in how he feels about Michael Jordan over the past decade. It appears as if things reached a boiling point when The Last Dance, a documentary about the makings of the Bulls dynasty centered around the 1997-1998 season, was released in 2020. Pippen and several other Bulls players didn't like how they were portrayed in the documentary.
He addresses Jordan in several portions of his 2021 book Unguarded. In a highly circulated excerpt of the book, he gave his feelings about The Last Dance.
“Even in the second episode, which focused for a while on my difficult upbringing and unlikely path to the NBA, the narrative returned to MJ and his determination to win. I was nothing more than a prop. His ‘best teammate of all time,' he called me. He couldn’t have been more condescending if he tried.
On second thought, I could believe my eyes. I spent a lot of time around the man. I knew what made him tick. How naïve I was to expect anything else.
Each episode was the same: Michael on a pedestal, his teammates secondary, smaller, the message no different from when he referred to us back then as his “supporting cast.” From one season to the next, we received little or no credit whenever we won but the bulk of the criticism when we lost. Michael could shoot 6 for 24 from the field, commit 5 turnovers, and he was still, in the minds of the adoring press and public, the Errorless Jordan.”
Also in the book, he spoke about deciding not to reach out to Jordan when his father James Jordan was murdered.
“The two were inseparable. When I heard the news, I should have reached out to Michael right away. Having lost my own dad three years before, I might have been able to offer Michael some comfort. To this day, he and I haven’t spoken about his father’s death.”
Per Stephen A. Smith, Pippen putting that revelation in his book completely soured Jordan on Pippen.
“And when it comes to Scottie Pippen, Michael Jordan feels betrayed when Scottie revealed in his book his feelings for Michael Jordan and how he didn't even give his condolences in person to Michael Jordan. I was on the phone with Michael Jordan that day talking about something else. And then we had heard about what Scottie Pippen had said and Michael Jordan was under the impression that it was just busy, it was chaotic and all of this other stuff. And that's why he never thought anything of it. But all of these years later, when Scottie Pippen had alluded to his father passing away, his father being murdered and how he didn't give his condolences on purpose, Michael Jordan's words were, ‘I hope it's worth it. I hope it's worth it for him. I have nothing.' And he literally said, ‘I have nothing else to say.' And I know Michael Jordan well enough to know what that means.”
It appears that the relationship between the two championship teammates is unsalvageable.
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