The two best players in Chicago Bulls team history, who won six championships across their 10 shared years on the franchise together, reportedly no longer talk.
Hall of Fame wings Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen were perhaps the most dynamic duo in the league ever. Their two-way dominance cultivated a dynasty in the Windy City and helped elevate the NBA as a whole in the 1980s and '90s.
During an episode of the "PBD Podcast" earlier this year, Pippen claimed the two were never quite friends.
The last straw was allegedly "The Last Dance."
In his bestselling memoir "Unguarded," Pippen took umbrage with the 10-episode ESPN documentary's depiction of himself and his non-Jordan teammates.
"I was upset with him. It was because of The Last Dance," Pippen wrote. "The final two episodes aired on May 17. Similar to the previous eight, they glorified Michael Jordan while not giving nearly enough praise to me and my proud teammates. Michael deserved a large portion of the blame."
"The producers had granted him editorial control of the final product," Pippen added. The doc couldn't have been released otherwise. He was the leading man and the director."
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There's no question that Jordan was the team's best player, but that's hardly a slight against Pippen.
A member of the NBA's 75th Anniversary Team, the 6-foot-8 University of Central Arkansas product was a seven-time All-Star and 10-time All-Defensive Teamer. Jordan may have won five MVP awards, but Pippen himself was voted as a top-10 MVP contender five times, including two finishes in the top five. He also ranked among the top 10 in Defensive Player of the Year voting seven times, including three top-three finishes.
In his 12 seasons with the Bulls (from 1987-98 and again in 2003-04), Pippen averaged 17.7 points, 6.7 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 2.1 steals and 0.9 blocks a night.
During a conversation on former champion Chicago reserve power forward-turned-TV commentator Stacey King's "Gimme The Hot Sauce" podcast, the third-best player on those first three title teams, starting power forward Horace Grant, weighed in on Jordan and Pippen's relationship.
"What is it gonna take for MJ and Scottie to put all the drama behind them and move forward from that?" King asked. "Because you can't have any celebration without those two guys."
"I think it's gonna take the egos put aside, the pride put aside. Once that happens, that opens the doors up to communication. But I hope and pray [that it happens]. Believe me, I talk to Pip a lot... and he's starting to understand that we're not getting any younger at all," Grant revealed. "I mean, I'm 60, he's gonna be 60 in September. So hopefully [they'll] have peace."
Grant and Pippen were both lottery picks in the 1987 NBA Draft, perhaps then-general manager Jerry Krause's best moment in the position — certainly with that first dynasty run that yielded three consecutive titles from 1990-91 to 1992-93. To his credit, Krause did also configure a wholly new roster around Jordan and Pippen that ultimately won three more straight championships, from 1995-96 to 1997-98.
A one-time All-Star across his 17-year pro career, Grant was also a four-time All-Defensive Teamer, and won his fourth NBA title, also with Phil Jackson, as a starter on the 2000-01 Los Angeles Lakers. The 6-foot-10 Clemson product averaged 12.6 points on 53 percent shooting from the floor and 67.5 percent shooting from the foul line, 8.6 rebounds, 2.4 dimes, 1.1 swipes and 1.1 rejections in his seven seasons with Chicago. He departed as a free agent in 1994.
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