"I was nothing more than a prop" - Scottie Pippen calls Michael Jordan 'condescending', says he wasn't paid anything for The Last Dance documentary
It seems as if the basketball world just can't get enough of the legendary Chicago Bulls team from the 90s. Ever since Netflix released the incredibly popular "The Last Dance" documentary, a number of stories have come to the surface talking about one of the greatest dynasty's the NBA has ever had. The documentary showcased behind-the-scenes footage of the legendary season of the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls, including a serious number of stories that included famous players such as Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and Dennis Rodman.
Since the documentary was released to the public, a number of teammates have had mixed feelings about all of the information that was shared publicly by Michael Jordan. One of those teammates was fellow Hall of Fame player Scottie Pippen. It was recently announced that Pippen was planning to release his own story. The legendary Chicago Bulls forward revealed earlier this week that his memoir "Unguarded" would be released November 9th.
In an exclusive with GQ, Scottie Pippen released an exclusive excert from the upcoming memoir. The passage talks about how Pippen and Jordan had exchanged texts about how Pippen and his teammates were upset with how they had been portrayed in "The Last Dance" documentary. Pippen even went on to talk about how he believed Jordan's desire to prove to people that he was better than LeBron James drove his decision to make the documentary all about Jordan.
"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."
Scottie Pippen slammed Michael Jordan for making "The Last Dance" all about him, and also took shots at John Paxson 😬
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Scottie Pippen expresses disbelief over his portrayal in 'The Last Dance'
Throughout the multiple excerpts that were shared from Pippen's work, he goes on to talk in-depth about how he couldn't believe how he and his teammates were portrayed throughout each episode. Pippen continues to express how he was just in disbelief at how the documentary continued to focus just on Jordan, while spending minimal time giving the teammates credit.
"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."
The rest of the excerpts go into detail about a number of different fallouts that occurred as a result of "The Last Dance" documentary. Pippen went on to talk about how he exchanged conversations with fellow Bulls teammates and how they had similar feelings after first seeing everything that had been released. One of the more interesting excerpts that have been shared so far included a phone call conversation between Scottie Pippen and former teammate John Paxson. After being teammates with the Bulls, Paxson would eventually become an NBA executive. The two had created some animosity toward each other, especially after Pippen had retired in the middle of a contract that Paxson had offered him while he was the GM of the Bulls. The memoir by Pippen is called "Unguarded" and is expected to be released on November 9th.
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