National Basketball Association (NBA) legend Scottie Pippen feud with his former Chicago Bulls teammate and league icon, Michael Jordan has apparently reignited by stating that some of Jordan’s statistics were fabricated.
Jordan’s name came up when Pippen was discussing his book “Unguarded.” In the book, Pippen claimed that NBA scorekeepers inflated some of his former teammate’s stats so that he could win the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award in 1988.
“Say I deflected the ball and tapped it over to Michael Jordan. I should get the credit with the steal, right? Nope. More often than not, the steal went into his column in the stat sheet and I could do nothing about it. One night a scorekeeper came into the locker room to hand the stat sheets to Phil Jackson. I couldn’t believe the look the guy gave Michael: ‘See MJ, we take care of you,’” Pippen stated.
Scottie Pippen says NBA scorekeepers in the 90’s fabricated stats for Michael Jordan:
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) June 22, 2024
“Say I deflected the ball and tapped it over to [MJ]. I should get the credit with the steal right? Nope. More often that not, the steal went into his column in the stat sheet and I could do… pic.twitter.com/va7jNXbJRE
Pippen’s allegation was investigated by Yahoo’s Tom Haberstroh, who found out that Jordan’s defensive numbers were more inflated at home than on the road. It’s also worth noting that Pippen has previously stated that he never won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award during his career as everyone on the Chicago Bulls team was busy looking after Jordan.
Jordan’s name immediately comes up when discussing the greatest of all time, as he remains the GOAT for many. He led the Bulls to six NBA championships, with Pippen being part of the franchise’s most successful period in their history from 1987 to 1993 and 1995 to 1998.
This isn’t the first time that Pippen has criticized Jordan. He has in the past went on to say that he was “nothing more than a prop” in Jordan’s “Last Dance” series, while also going on to state that the NBA legend “couldn’t have been more condescending if he tried.”
Adding to the intrigue of their feud is that Jordan’s son, Marcus, was dating Pippen’s ex-wife, Larsa, for two years before they split up earlier this year. Pippen and his ex-wife were married for 14 years before calling it quits in 2021.
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