When discussing NBA history, one team that always comes up is the 1990s Chicago Bulls, led by star players Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, plus Hall of Fae coach Phil Jackson.
During Jordan’s tenure, the Bulls won six championships without losing a single head-to-head Finals series, capturing titles in 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, and 1998.
The 1995–96 Bulls went 72-10 en route to a championship — a season still considered one of the greatest team accomplishments in NBA history alongside the 73-9 Golden State Warriors — though the Warriors fell short in a Game 7 of the Finals.
Despite their on-court dominance, team chemistry off the court didn’t always translate.
In a recent interview with Marca, Pippen opened up about his current relationship with Jordan with an eye-opening confession that it’s never been what fans likely believed it to be.
“It’s never been on the top shelf. That’s the nature of the business,” Pippen admitted. “I mean, I was like that with Phil Jackson, but we’re not tight anymore, neither. So it’s just a part of life and cycles that we go through.”
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The relationship between Pippen and Jordan has always been somewhat complicated, particularly in the late ’90s following the filming of “The Last Dance.” Pippen was reportedly unhappy with how he was portrayed in the series, which wasn’t released until 2020. He felt it was a documentary that mainly centered around Jordan.
“The final two episodes aired on May 17 — like the previous eight, they glorified Michael Jordan while giving far too little credit to me and my proud teammates,” Pippen stated. “Michael deserved a large portion of the blame. The producers had granted him editorial control over the final product; the documentary couldn’t have been released otherwise. He was the leading man and the director.”
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Despite the drama that unfolded both during and after their playing careers, Pippen has never wavered in calling Jordan the greatest basketball player of all time.
“Oh, for sure,” Pippen said when asked if Jordan is the ‘GOAT’. “You look at the MVPs he was able to achieve, but I think it was all brought from us being successful as a team. Obviously, someone’s gonna bring those accolades home, but he was the greatest player in basketball.”