Prior to the start of The Last Dance, Michael Jordan expressed concern that the doc would make him look like a “horribly guy,” but if anything, the behind-the-scenes glimpse has seen his legend grow. Scottie Pippen however, Jordan’s right-hand man who did not have the same editorial influence over The Last Dance, is reportedly unhappy about the docuseries according to Yahoo Sports.
Pippen has been portrayed as selfish, frustrated and underpaid. In episode 2 of the series, Pippen admitted to delaying surgery, which caused him to miss half of the 1997-98 season. It was a business decision for the Hall-of-Famer who was unhappy with his contract and explained, “I’m not going to f*ck my summer up.”
During episode 7, Pippen was prominently featured as he attempted to step up and lead the Bulls without Jordan, who made the switch to baseball in 1993. Down 2-0 to the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, Pippen infamously sat out the last play of Game 3 because the shot was designed for teammate Toni Kukoc.
“It’s one of those incidents where I wish it never happened,” Pippen said in the documentary, “but if I had a chance to do it over again I probably wouldn’t change it.”
The sentiment that he “probably wouldn’t change it,” was scrutinized by fans and analysts who expected to hear more regret from Pippen. While The Last Dance began by making Pippen a sympathetic figure because of how severely underpaid he was by the Bulls, the series progressed in a way that now depicts the Hall-of-Fame forward as a less than stellar teammate.
Brandon Contes is a former reporter for BSM, now working for Awful Announcing. You can find him on Twitter @BrandonContes or reach him by email at Brandon.Contes@gmail.com.
I don’t feel like Pippen was wrong at all he had every right to be upset at that time because it was his time to shine and the bulls slick tried to keep him on the back burner so they wouldn’t have to pay him No disrespect to kukoc but he should’ve been the robin to Pippen and Pippen should have been the leader of that team………