Scottie Pippen backpedals, says he never called LeBron James the GOAT

Finally, after all these years, Scottie Pippen got what he always wanted: Everybody’s attention. The Chicago Bulls legend has been all over NBA news lately for the bold remarks he’s made on his new book ‘Unguarded.’

The book came as a response to Michael Jordan’s ‘The Last Dance,’ which Pippen thinks wasn’t a fair portrait of Jordan’s teammates and what truly happened during the Bulls’ final championship run.

It pretty much consists of calling out Jordan, dissing him, trying to discredit everything he accomplished and multiple cheap shots. He even went as far as to say that MJ ruined basketball and called LeBron James the GOAT over him.

Scottie Pippen Says Michael Jordan Ruined Basketball, Calls LeBron James The GOAT

“I may go as far to say Mike ruined basketball,” Pippen wrote. “In the 80s on the playgrounds, you’d have everyone moving the ball around — passing to help the team. That stopped in the 90s. Kids wanted to be ‘Like Mike.’ Well, Mike didn’t want to pass — didn’t want to rebound, or defend the best player. He wanted everything done for him. That’s why I always believed LeBron James was the greatest player this game has ever seen — he does everything and embodies what the game is truly about.”

Pippen Claims He Never Said LeBron Is The GOAT

Now, Pippen says that he never said such a thing, even though it’s literally put on paper. According to the six-time NBA champion, there’s no greatest in a team sport, therefore James can’t be the GOAT:

“There’s no greatest in a team sport,” Pippen said in an interview. “Let me get that clear… There’s no greatest in baseball. There’s no greatest in football. There’s no greatest in basketball. There may be a greatest in golf. There may be a greatest in tennis and maybe some other individual sports that I can’t think of right now. But in team sports, there are great teams and there are outstanding individuals, but that don’t make them the greatest.”

Well, that leaves us wondering… did Scottie even write the book? Or did he care to give it a read after barfing all those spiteful, baseless comments? What does he truly think of the GOAT debate? I guess we’ll find out in the sequel…