The world is still buzzing over the first two episodes of ESPN’s “The Last Dance” documentary aired on Sunday, which chronicled Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and the Chicago Bulls’ second conquest for a three-peat in the 1997-98 season.
Apart from delving into the interesting dynamic between the team and its GM at the time Jerry Krause, the second episode was an eye-opener for a lot of fans — particularly with the curious case of Pippen’s salary.
As it turns out, the Hall of Famer was massively underpaid during his prime years in the Windy City.
He signed a five-year, $18 million contract extension with Bulls shortly after they won their first NBA title in 1991. Although Pippen understood that a shorter contract would have been the more logical approach, he wanted to ensure financial security for himself and his family in the event that he gets hurt.
Despite being the second-best player on his team (and perhaps even in the entire league), Pippen was only the sixth highest-paid player on the Bulls.
It’s also quite ridiculous to fathom that 121 other players in the league commanded higher salaries than what Pippen was making at the time. For context, the league’s best player and Pip’s teammate Michael Jordan was earning $33.14 million that year, while the 6-foot-8 forward only got $2.775 million.
His dire contract situation ultimately paid a huge role in Pippen choosing to delay his surgery and just begin rehabbing at the start of the 1997-98 season. Pippen’s absence greatly affected the Bulls and this put him at odds with most of his teammates.
But then again, who can blame him? Pippen felt underappreciated and disrespected, especially for the value he brought to the franchise.
Although the Bulls certainly had a huge bargain at the time, let’s not throw poor Scottie a pity party just yet. Pippen, after all, is still a multi-millionaire and he and his family are set for life.
His ex-wife Larsa made it clear that Pip did quite well for himself after that whole debacle and even eventually out-earned Jordan in the long run. The Hamburg, Arkansas-native received a grand total of $109, 957, 430 in 17 seasons, while “His Airness” got $89, 772, 500 in 15 seasons.
Let’s take a closer look at how Pippen earned $20 million more than Jordan in his career from NBA contracts.
Rookie contract (1987-91)
In retrospect, it appears that every Bulls player was criminally underpaid at the time compared to the greatness they exuded on the hardwood.
Scottie Pippen’s case, however, was so jarring that it’s impossible to go unnoticed.
Given he wasn’t as highly touted as Jordan was coming out of college, Pippen’s rookie contract was pretty standard. Back then, a first-round rookie deal is set at four years — with the possibility of an extension heading into the fourth year.
He earned $725,000 dollars as a back-up in 1987. Pip got $575,000 — the lowest in his career — in his sophomore season. The seven-time All-Star emerged as a premier talent in the next two seasons, raking in $765,000 in 1990 and the same amount the following year.
Pippen's biggest mistake was he pushed for the extension rather quickly, which ended up biting him in the ass in the coming years.
Extension with Bulls (1991-98)
Pippen’s extension was initially just set at five years, but he ended up suffering for seven. How did this happen? As mentioned, Pip pushed for the extension right after his second year and the new contract he signed did not forfeit the last two remaining seasons on his rookie deal.
Eighteen million dollars doesn’t sound so bad at first glance, but that was spread out over the course of seven seasons.
Pip got a considerable pay bump in 1991 where he got $2,770,000 followed by $3,425,000 in 1992, which was his highest-earning year in a Bulls jersey.
He got $3,075,000 in 1993 and another $2,225,000 in 1994.
Jordan was in the midst of his first retirement at the time and Pippen emerged as the Bulls’ leader in every major statistical category. However, his godlike-performance did not translate to a fatter bank account.
Following his contract stipulations, Pippen got $2,925,000 in 1995 and $2,250,000 in 1996. Almost everyone else in the league is getting paid at the time due to the salary cap boom.
Scottie’s frustrations boiled over when he was just getting $2,775,000 in 1998, the same year he demanded a trade.
Sign and trade with Houston (1998-99)
As shown in the documentary, Pippen was quoted as saying “My time will come”. It was a long time coming, but Pip finally got what he deserved when he signed a five-year $67.2 million contract following his trade to the Houston Rockets.
Pippen’s salary spiked to $11 million that year alone — which was four times greater than what he was receiving the previous year.
However, Pippen’s relationship with Charles Barkley soured in just one year and he was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers after just one season.
Breaking bank with Blazers (1999-2003)
Portland willingly absorbed Pippen’s contract when they acquired his services in 1999. The six-time NBA champ got $14,795,642 in his first year as Blazer, followed by $13,750,000 in 2001.
Pippen received his biggest earning in the next two years, collecting $18,083,564 in 2002 and a whopping $19,727,524 in his final year in Oregon.
Return to Bulls (2003-05)
Pippen was a shell of his former self when he returned to Chicago to wrap up his illustrious NBA career. But perhaps to make up for all those years of milking his value for minuscule compensation, the Bulls front office did right by him.
Pippen’s old teammate-turned Bulls GM John Paxson hooked him up with a two-year, $10.3 million contract with Chicago.
Scottie’s final two seasons were forgettable due to injuries, but he did earn $4,917,000 in 2004 and $5,408,700 in 2005.
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