Basketball Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen had time on Monday, Nov. 8. He sat down with GQ magazine for a wide ranging interview and he had a little heat for everyone.
Pippen has been on a scorched earth tour since the “Last Dance” premiered in 2020. Not a fan of the way he was depicted in the documentary, Pippen has been teasing his tell-all memoir “Unguarded” and is making the rounds on national media.
Nobody was safe during the GQ interview.
Of course he came for his superstar teammate Michael Jordan. Long viewed as the GOAT NBA player, MJ’s legend seemingly grows every year. To hear some people tell it, MJ won his titles with a bunch of dudes from 24 Hour Fitness. Pippen takes exception to that.
.@ScottiePippen tells GQ's @TylerRickyTynes that Michael Jordan never carried the Bulls to a championship
Watch the full interview here: https://t.co/DTZrkzY4zx pic.twitter.com/kZ36rY1jSO
— GQ Sports (@GQSports) November 9, 2021
The Chicago Bulls went 72-10 in the 1995-96 season and won the NBA title. The 2015-16 Golden State Warriors finished the regular season with a 73-9 record, but blew a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals to the Cleveland Cavaliers. For Pippen that means the Warriors have no claim to greatest team ever.
.@ScottiePippen says that the 73-win Warriors can't be considered as the greatest team in NBA history 👀
Watch his interview with GQ's @TylerRickyTynes: https://t.co/DTZrkzY4zx pic.twitter.com/hCkDEydvjo
— GQ Sports (@GQSports) November 9, 2021
Pippen was going through a divorce with now ex-wife Larsa Pippen, and the coverage of Larsa’s exploits with rapper Future and others didn’t seem to bother Scottie.
He might have been trying to save face here. It couldn’t have been easy to see all of that coverage and the jokes made in the media and on social media at his expense.
GQ's @TylerRickyTynes asks @ScottiePippen about the press coverage of his personal life https://t.co/DTZrkzY4zx pic.twitter.com/1BGGOp7GtE
— GQ Sports (@GQSports) November 9, 2021
During his playing days, the New York Knicks were a rival of the Bulls. Scottie was asked about the Knicks’ latest resurgence under head coach Tom Thibodeau.
"What are the [Knicks] trying to get back to? A first-round exit?"@ScottiePippen
Watch the full @TylerRickyTynes interview: https://t.co/DTZrkzY4zx pic.twitter.com/FfjSdXihfr
— GQ Sports (@GQSports) November 9, 2021
Ouch! That’s a little rough Scottie. This current Knicks team never did anything to you. Why are they catching strays?
Pippen’s legacy is forever intertwined with Jordan’s. Scottie is the Robin to Michael’s Batman. How that dynamic is portrayed in the media all these years later still bothers him. Pippen is a first ballot Hall of Famer and a member of the NBA’s 75th Anniversary team.
THE LAST DANCE: Scottie Pippen’s Crappy Contract, Evolution of Player Empowerment
One of the great two-way point forwards. His game might have been ahead of its time for the era he played in.
But more than anything Pippen wants to tell his story in his own words, not through the lens of Michael Jordan.
The interview is far-reaching and touches on a variety of topics. Pippen clearly had a lot he wanted to get off his chest. Hopefully, this interview, the memoir and its subsequent press tour will give him whatever he’s looking for.