Scottie Pippen Explains Why he Felt ‘Unguarded’ After Watching ESPN’s ‘The Last Dance’
Scottie Pippen Explains Why he Felt ‘Unguarded’ After Watching ESPN’s ‘The Last Dance’
Ever since the Michael Jordan and Chicago Bulls’ docuseries “The Last Dance” premiered on ESPN, one of the main players of the six-time NBA championship-winning team has been displeased with his portrayal in the series. Now, 18 months later, he is able to respond and express his feelings about the documentary and the man who was the focal point of it in a book he has just released, Unguarded.
Probably the best second option of an NBA championship team in history, former Chicago Bull forward Scottie Pippen has not been happy since the debut of the highest-rated docuseries in ESPN history. Although he has expressed his dissatisfaction through various media outlets when the docuseries originally aired in April 2020, he has placed all those bottled emotions into his newly released book, Unguarded.
GQ just released an excerpt of the tome and sat down with the one-time teammate of Jordan to discuss some of what is written in the book and to allow Pippen to let off some steam in the process.
After viewing the docuseries, Pippen was convinced that Jordan, who had editorial control over the documentary and how the narrative would be shaped, was more interested in proving to the current generation of basketball fans that he was larger than LeBron James is. The legend of Jordan may not be as big as James is right now to younger fans.
“Except Michael was determined to prove to the current generation of fans that he was larger-than-life during his day—and still larger than LeBron James, the player many consider his equal, if not superior. So Michael presented his story, not the story of the “Last Dance,” as our coach, Phil Jackson, billed the 1997–98 season once it became obvious the two Jerrys (owner Jerry Reinsdorf and general manager Jerry Krause) were intent on breaking up the gang no matter what happened.”
Pippen, along with several other players who were on the teams alongside Jordan, was also annoyed at the lack of credit Jordan had given his teammates in the documentary.
“Over the next few weeks, I spoke to a number of my former teammates who each felt as disrespected as I did. How dare Michael treat us that way after everything we did for him and his precious brand. Michael Jordan would never have been Michael Jordan without me, Horace Grant, Toni Kukoc, John Paxson, Steve Kerr, Dennis Rodman, Bill Cartwright, Ron Harper, B. J. Armstrong, Luc Longley, Will Perdue, and Bill Wennington. I apologize to anyone I’ve left out.”
In the excerpt, Pippen continues on the disrespect felt being that Jordan made $10 million from the doc while he nor any of the other players received anything. There were other beefs and issues he speaks about in the book. To check out the excerpt, click on this link.
Scottie Pippen Explains Why he Felt ‘Unguarded’ After Watching ESPN’s ‘The Last Dance’
