Scottie Pippen Is Reportedly Livid With How He Was Portrayed In "The Last Dance"

"Pippen felt like up until the last few minutes of Game 6 against the Jazz it was just ’bash Scottie, bash Scottie, bash Scottie,’ ”--David Kaplan on ESPN Radio Chicago

Remember when it was reported that Michael Jordan was worried that this documentary would make everyone hate him? Maybe by "everyone" he just meant his former teammates because now we have Horace Grant on the record as basically saying fuck MJ, and Pippen is also reportedly livid. In classic post-production reality TV fashion, Scottie Pippen is claiming he got a bad edit. That can definitely happen, but I mean, Scottie...come on, bud. It wasn't MJ who got you in trouble. It was mostly Pippen's own words. Let's go down the list here

1) The Migraine Game

Migraines suck. They do. No getting around that. Jordan didn't criticize him with his words so much. Jordan said the right things. Having said that, it was the only time in the doc where I straight up didn't believe Jordan. You can tell that he didn't believe Scottie then. You can tell Jordan is still disappointed with how that went down now. 

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2) "I'm Not Going To Fuck Up My Summer"--Scottie Pippen

A quote so good that we slapped it on a t-shirt. Injured on company time, gonna recover on company time. Pippen was mad about the contract he signed so he wasn't going to hustle back, get surgery, and be ready to play for the contract he signed. I can see both sides of the argument here, but at the end of the day this type of attitude is going to piss some people off. 

3) I'm Never Going To Play In A Bulls Uniform Again

Again, I understand the frustration about being underpaid. That is a shitty feeling. He did however sign that contract. When you go through the list of people responsible for ending the dynasty, Pippen is at or near the top of the list. Krause, Reinsdorf, and Pippen. As the doc was closing they showed the championship parade and Pippen himself called it the Bulls' last dance. He wanted out. He wasn't coming back. He got his money, which, take care of your own, but again...something that would rub people wrong. 

4) He Quit On His Team In 1994

When you think of Scottie Pippen, even with all the accolades and championships, THIS is moment that is probably top of mind. When it was HIS team with MJ playing baseball, Pippen sat out when it mattered most just because Phil Jackson drew up a play for Kukoc with the game on the line. You could argue that Pippen, the best passer on the team, was given the most important role on that play, but that wasn't good enough for him. It wasn't good enough that the play had worked several times in similar situations throughout the year. Nope. Pippen quit. 

People make mistakes though. It happens. Heat of the moment, the guy made a mistake. With 25 years or so to reflect on that situation surely Pippen has remorse.

"I felt disrespected by Phil. I would do it again"--Pippen

And for that reason...I'm out. I LOVE Scottie Pippen as a player. The guy could do everything. The Barstool Chicago guys did rewatches of the 98 playoffs and it was impossible not to love and respect his game. It's hard to respect his attitude though. It falls in line with the same story we got from Silvy on Redline Radio a few ago. The story goes that Michael Reinsdorf and Scottie Pippen agreed to a deal where the Bulls would pay him to be an ambassador. They told Scottie what that meant. It meant interacting with fans. Taking pictures, showing up to games, signing autographs, and just generally being a friendly guy. Pippen agreed to the fake job for a real paycheck and literally the FIRST day they agreed the Bulls brass were in a car with Scottie on the way to the game and pulled up to the United Center. Scottie, again on the first fucking day as a team ambassador, asked if they could drive him around to the other side of the stadium so he would have to interact with fans. Like, come on dude. 

Did Scottie look bad in the documentary? Sure he did, at times. Most of those times were things that he said out loud or things that he actually did. If he is mad then he can only be mad at himself. All-time great athlete in Chicago, but seemingly zero self-awareness.