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Pythagoras wrote:

FreeThrowLine wrote:I loved Pippen the basketball player, but he’s shown over the years that he’s holding on to so much jealousy that he can’t move past.

He’s within his rights to give his side but there are some things which don’t require further explanation that showed how mentally weak Pippen could be in certain situations.

I’m not saying he needs to kiss the ground Jordan walks on, but there’s no doubt in my mind that Scottie starting his career anywhere else doesn’t have the success, fame or reputation that he ended up with

I kind of agree with this. Scottie was fantastic and he deserves his props for his contributions to those teams, but Jordan was clearly the engine making them go. Being called a “sidekick” to one of the 3 or 4 most dominant basketball players to ever play is not exactly an insult.

The Explorer wrote:

FreeThrowLine wrote:Having said all that, the first thing that came to mind in all honesty is that Pippen is trying to cash in on the success of the Last Dance documentary and figured now would be a good time to make some money

Why would he need the cash though? He had a comfortable gig at ESPN jump, not sure if he left that.
He got divorced a couple years ago I believe, and his son died recently. Not sure if those things would trigger a cash/publicity grab like this. He doesn't strike me as out for publicity, though he does seem petty.

dhsilv2 wrote:

The Explorer wrote:

FreeThrowLine wrote:Having said all that, the first thing that came to mind in all honesty is that Pippen is trying to cash in on the success of the Last Dance documentary and figured now would be a good time to make some money

Why would he need the cash though? He had a comfortable gig at ESPN jump, not sure if he left that.
He got divorced a couple years ago I believe, and his son died recently. Not sure if those things would trigger a cash/publicity grab like this. He doesn't strike me as out for publicity, though he does seem petty.

Pretty well known Pippen was absolutely horrible with money...at one point if I'm remembering correctly the guy had a private plane. he never had that kind of money which is why he's had financial problem after financial problem.

dhsilv2 wrote:

FreeThrowLine wrote:I loved Pippen the basketball player, but he’s shown over the years that he’s holding on to so much jealousy that he can’t move past.

He’s within his rights to give his side but there are some things which don’t require further explanation that showed how mentally weak Pippen could be in certain situations.

I’m not saying he needs to kiss the ground Jordan walks on, but there’s no doubt in my mind that Scottie starting his career anywhere else doesn’t have the success, fame or reputation that he ended up with

I strongly disagree. Sure he doesn't win 6 titles, but he'd have been the second best wing in the nba and he'd be much more respected as an offensive player and potentially defensive player had he had his own team to run.

The Explorer wrote:

Lunartic wrote:But he was Jordan's sidekick, that's exactly what he was known for.

He's the epitome of a sidekick, the perfect #2 man.

I think Pippen's point would be by labeling him a sidekick, it undermines what he actually did for those teams. In the post he calls himself the real leader of the team. In other interviews he has said Jordan was not responsible for many things on the court outside of scoring. It was Pippen who was tasked with guarding the best opposing player, playmaking, leadership etc. So I think in his mind he was not a sidekick, he was 1b right next to MJ.

Johnny Bball wrote:If you want to cringe at being called Jordan's sidekick, maybe "Unguarded" isn't the best title.

Michael Jackson wrote:

Harry Garris wrote:A lot of people will call this whining or whatever but I don't really blame Pippen for feeling the way that he felt. No other sports figure in the US at least has had a fanatical, cult-like fanbase to the level of Michael Jordan. Pippen has had to deal with being overlooked, undervalued, and blamed for shortcomings more than any other star player has.

It's similar to what Lebron's teammates have had to deal with when they're given no credit for winning and all the blame for losses... But Pippen had to deal with that for his entire career and not just a couple of seasons.

To be honest, I was fervent Pippen supporter and was meh on MJ growing up. It was an odd stance that i took growing up in Chicago. So I would dog MJ and point out his flaws (oddly though I had personal experiences with him and he was a great guy). I fully supported Pippen but damn Pip you just constantly shoot yourself in the foot. He was always jealous that MJ got the press but I mean Mike was better. MJ doesn't have 6 rings without Pippen there is no doubt about that, no one will dispute that but Pippen was a #2, it wasn't a 1A and 1B thing. Why is it shocking that the most influential athlete from your sport of all time is getting press?

As for recent Pippen, after Jerry Reinsdorf (albeit he is an evil man) bailed him out of financial issues 2 times (maybe 3) you still and mouth him. While working as an ambassador for the Bulls you go on national TV and dog them... Then try to spin it that they are wrong in the situation. I mean Jerry is an easy target and anyone else bashing him I am behind but with Pip... c'mon man he employed you 2 times he didn't have to... he took care of you even after you drug his name through the mud and influenced the NBA to hate the man (which is deserved just not from Pippen)

This book should be fun though. I 100% get it though MJ is a prick everyone knows it, Pippen and Grant hated how they were portrayed, but no one is really going to care. I'm guessing this is a fund raiser because Larsa needs alimony and or Pippen had another "bad" investment. Pip I will always love you but ungrateful definitely applies.

wutevahung wrote:

Pythagoras wrote:

FreeThrowLine wrote:I loved Pippen the basketball player, but he’s shown over the years that he’s holding on to so much jealousy that he can’t move past.

He’s within his rights to give his side but there are some things which don’t require further explanation that showed how mentally weak Pippen could be in certain situations.

I’m not saying he needs to kiss the ground Jordan walks on, but there’s no doubt in my mind that Scottie starting his career anywhere else doesn’t have the success, fame or reputation that he ended up with

I kind of agree with this. Scottie was fantastic and he deserves his props for his contributions to those teams, but Jordan was clearly the engine making them go. Being called a “sidekick” to one of the 3 or 4 most dominant basketball players to ever play is not exactly an insult.

I think the difference between like Wade sidekick to LeBron, or Russ sidekick for KD, is that Pippen wasn't treated with the respect of an all NBA team player, and most importantly, PAID like one. There is no doubt that majority of his gripe is coming from being underpaid. He made a bad decision to sign that contract, but the world was different back then.

Also, ya, "Last Dance" was definitely created for casual fans who didn't know much about the Bulls. I don't think I learned anything new. It was interesting, but not that informative, and was definitely biased toward Mike. There were multiple occasions that they omitted Michael's shortcoming for better story telling, and downplayed his teammates's accomplishment and impacts.

Pythagoras wrote:
The pay thing is another story, and I can understand him having bitter feelings over that. I should point out though, he WAS given a cushy job later on with the Bulls where they paid him a lot of money for him not really doing anything.

The Explorer wrote:

dhsilv2 wrote:

The Explorer wrote:
Why would he need the cash though? He had a comfortable gig at ESPN jump, not sure if he left that.
He got divorced a couple years ago I believe, and his son died recently. Not sure if those things would trigger a cash/publicity grab like this. He doesn't strike me as out for publicity, though he does seem petty.

Pretty well known Pippen was absolutely horrible with money...at one point if I'm remembering correctly the guy had a private plane. he never had that kind of money which is why he's had financial problem after financial problem.

That was a long time ago and those issues have mostly been resolved in court. That's why I mentioned the ESPN gig, he seemed to have a steady income most recently. No clear reason for a money grab here in 2021.

FreeThrowLine wrote:

dhsilv2 wrote:

FreeThrowLine wrote:I loved Pippen the basketball player, but he’s shown over the years that he’s holding on to so much jealousy that he can’t move past.

He’s within his rights to give his side but there are some things which don’t require further explanation that showed how mentally weak Pippen could be in certain situations.

I’m not saying he needs to kiss the ground Jordan walks on, but there’s no doubt in my mind that Scottie starting his career anywhere else doesn’t have the success, fame or reputation that he ended up with

I strongly disagree. Sure he doesn't win 6 titles, but he'd have been the second best wing in the nba and he'd be much more respected as an offensive player and potentially defensive player had he had his own team to run.

That’s based on the assumption he develops into the same player without the mental/physical struggles he had to overcome in the playoff series against the Pistons and the possible confidence of having a guy like MJ by his side both in game and to go against in practice.

He MIGHT have turned out better, or he might have been on a team that missed the playoff year after year with no one to push him to reach the level he did.

We can only assume, but I disagree about him possibly being more respected defensively, he’s already highly thought of in that regards.

Offensively, he was too inconsistent and I don’t think he lacked opportunity to take a larger role within the offense, he played to his abilities on that end

cursedsportsfan wrote:

Johnny Bball wrote:If you want to cringe at being called Jordan's sidekick, maybe "Unguarded" isn't the best title.

I do feel like Pippen doesn't get enough credit but yeah that title is a real head scratcher lol.

FreeThrowLine wrote:

The Explorer wrote:

FreeThrowLine wrote:Having said all that, the first thing that came to mind in all honesty is that Pippen is trying to cash in on the success of the Last Dance documentary and figured now would be a good time to make some money

Why would he need the cash though? He had a comfortable gig at ESPN jump, not sure if he left that.
He got divorced a couple years ago I believe, and his son died recently. Not sure if those things would trigger a cash/publicity grab like this. He doesn't strike me as out for publicity, though he does seem petty.

He also has a reputation as being cheap (see the whole ‘no tippin Pippen’ thing)

Plus the years he was underpaid as a player seem to still bother him. But this is just my assumption based on my initial impression