When we talk about the greatest duos in NBA history, perhaps the first that pops to mind is Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen; who led the Chicago Bulls to 6 NBA Finals appearances and 6 NBA Championships.
Jordan and Pippen went to battle and dominated the Eastern Conference for years. They had their differences, like all teammates, but they were nearly unbeatable when they were on the hardwood.
Nonetheless, even though most people assumed they were friends, it seems like they didn’t actually have much of a relationship away from basketball, as Scottie Pippen recently revealed during an interview with GQ.
Scottie Pippen Says He Didn’t Have An Off The Court Relationship With Michael Jordan
“Michael was bigger than the game, you know. Even my initial arrival to Chicago he was a big, iconic figure for the NBA. So, we never really had that off the court relationship,” Scottie Pippen started. “Our relationship between the lines was impeccable. We pushed each other to be great. We trained with each other to be the best. So, everything we did, from a basketball standpoint, it was a high level of respect there that we knew we could be the best. We could be dominant. We had went through pretty much the Vietnam War to get where we got to. We were battle tested.”
Scottie Pippen has often lived in Jordan’s shadow and he reportedly didn’t like the way he was portrayed in The Last Dance. Also, he’s been quite outspoken lately, making the headlines with his bold remarks.
So, perhaps this isn’t entirely true and he’s just taking another jab at his legendary teammate. Whatever is the case, we can’t help but wonder if they could’ve been even better had they been friends away from the court. We highly doubt it, tho.