When you think of the NBA’s GOAT, several names come to mind, even those who are no longer around, but you end up settling on just one. This usually leaves several players out of this mention.
For Scottie Pippen, six-time NBA champion, this is completely unfair. It is not only the statistics or the number of tournaments won that matter, but there are different ways to win.
And this is coming from the man who shared his game with Michael Jordan, one of those names we mentioned earlier that appeared almost instantly when opting for a GOAT. As if that wasn’t enough, Scottie had to forge his career in his shadow: “There is not a greatest player,” Pippen said. “I’m gonna put myself in there if you’re gonna call out a greatest player. What makes Michael Jordan great? Because he had the media-gained MVPs.”
Pippen has made it clear for years that the yardstick by which greatness is measured is often unfair, and he pointed to Nikola Jokic as an example. Despite having the highest efficiency ratings in the NBA and leading the Denver Nuggets to their first championship in 2023, he was overlooked for the NBA’s All-NBA First Team that same year.
To this, Pippen said: “He’s great and they didn’t even put him on the Motherf***ing team. I don’t understand what people say make other people great because I saw a f***ing two-time, should have been three-time MVP, not even get picked by his peers.”
Scottie Pippen vs. Michael Jordan
Scottie and Jordan formed one of the greatest pairings in NBA history and between them won 6 championship rings for the Chicago Bulls.
However, Pip has stated over the years that “Michael Jordan was a horrible player” before the Bulls became a winning team. He further confirmed that their bond was not “like people see it on TV” and that “he was a good teammate, but they were never great friends.”
After the Netflix documentary “The Last Dance” Pippen angrily stated that “the last two episodes, just like the previous eight episodes, glorified Michael without giving me and my teammates too much importance.” This situation would have further frayed their relationship.
Greatness depends on how you measure it
“I don’t want to hear about a great f***ing player unless he’s winning,” Pippen said. For some time now, several players have been candidates to be the best in the NBA, but for the 59-year-old former player it depends on how you look at it and he gave LeBron as an example: “James is probably one of the greatest winners that ever played the game. He wins. He ain’t won that many championships, but he’s been in the finals…does that make him the greatest player ever to play the game? No.”
Pip further differentiated the real impact of players on the court to the idolatry and weight given to them by fans.
Players like 11-time NBA champion Bill Russell, Julius Erving who laid the foundation for high-flying forwards, or Abdul-Jabbar who won six championships and six MVPs are just a few of those who are forgotten by fans and should be remembered for their great feats.
Do you think Pippen is right?
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