Scottie in his book "Unguarded": MJ & I were never close friends & I was always the better teammate.

[getjeffrey]

I'm a Chicagoan, and there has never been any impression, here in the City, that Michael and Scottie were close friends. When Horace Grant was a Bull, he was Scottie's best friend. They were joined at the hip, seen all over town together. Not so with Scottie and Michael, ever.

[GoBlue72391]

MJ was trying to win multiple championships and not become friends/family with the teammates. Work relationship is just fine.

It worked for him and the team. How did Pip do after leaving the Bulls??

Work relationships are a lot different when you're traveling and effectively living with someone for 9 years of your formative life.

Band members and their crews develop very familial relationships. Well adjusted long-term basketball teammates probably do also.

Given the way TLD put Jordan on a pedestal and dragged Scottie, highlighting and focusing on his low moments and, in many ways, diminishing his accomplishments and contributions... I'd be pissed if I were Scottie also. Hell, I'd be pissed if I were most of those teammates.

Compare the relationships of the Jordan era Bulls to the Rose era Bulls. I know they're not directly comparable because one was the greatest dynasty of all time and the other only made a single ECF appearance, but it's a night and day difference in terms of the relationships.

[League Circles]

Pippen has generally struck me as a sour grape for 20+ years now. I'm grateful for the titles and memories, and I heavily respect his game (as good of an all around defender as I've seen), but always thought he was overrated as a leader and especially as an offensive player. He's probably not one of my top 5 favorite all time Bulls anymore.

[GoBlue72391]

Luc had the issue with MJ, didn’t like being around him etc. But understood him, and that MJ got him in the right places to win. Sometimes the leader is unliked. By definition if you are the leader (and driver of performance) of 6 title teams, you are the better teammate. Maybe Scottie was better on the plane, but not sure what it means.

Agreed. The best leader is the one who gets the job done.

[GoBlue72391]

This feels like the last gasp for his retelling of the 90s Bulls.

We've heard it all before, we acknowledge that he's right in some ways, and we don't really care.

He needs to understand that the truth, whatever that may be, will never trump the legend of Jordan.

[GoBlue72391]

And really this isn't all that surprising. Look at Kobe and Shaq. If anything, today's game is too buddy-buddy, where you're not only friends with your teammates, you're friends with your opponents and do photo sessions on the court after losing.

[gardenofsound]

I'm a Chicagoan, and there has never been any impression, here in the City, that Michael and Scottie were close friends. When Horace Grant was a Bull, he was Scottie's best friend. They were joined at the hip, seen all over town together. Not so with Scottie and Michael, ever.

Honestly, at least as a kid, I assumed that they were close. Seeing Scottie hug/support Michael during the flu game seemed like a testament to that.

I knew that MJ was close with Barkley, and was surprised to learn how close he was with Oakley given that I only saw Oak as a Knick, Raptor, and during his second Bulls stint, and the Knicks and Bulls seemed to have genuine bad blood.

I was too young to really closely follow and understand some of the nuance while Horace was still a Bull.

I know I'm not the only one who has said it, but media coverage back then just wasn't what it is now. I am 100% convinced that Michael Jordan's legacy would be much different in the current age of papparazzi and social media. Secrets are a lot harder to keep, and between the gambling and womanizing, I'm convinced that MJ's skeletons would have garnered much more criticism in the current era.

[MAQ]

I look at LBJ's success and am confident that if the machine wanted to protect him, MJ would have been protected even in this day in age.

Dwade was married to a famous actress, had a kid with another woman, and the world kept spinning. And i only bring that up because its proven and not rumored. Rumors swirl about about most players, including LBJ. Mike would have been fine.


That gambling thing would have been a snake in the grass waiting to strike though.

[umfan83]

This doesn't surprise me *that* much. MJ and Pip seemed somewhat close, but knowing what we know about Michael I find it hard he could have a close relationship with anyone he was teammates with, even ones he greatly respected.

[dougthonus]

I know I'm not the only one who has said it, but media coverage back then just wasn't what it is now. I am 100% convinced that Michael Jordan's legacy would be much different in the current age of papparazzi and social media. Secrets are a lot harder to keep, and between the gambling and womanizing, I'm convinced that MJ's skeletons would have garnered much more criticism in the current era.

A lot of people say this, but I disagree. I think in this era he'd have been even bigger. The gambling story was just a non-story IMO. So MJ gambled a lot? So what? Why would anyone even care about this? In the social media era it would be totally dismissed.

MJ likely had affairs? You think NBA stars today aren't sleeping around? You don't think similar innuendo followed all those guys? Why would social media make these bigger unless there were crazy smoking guns?

MJ was savvy enough to avoid what he needed to avoid in the modern era if it came down to it. You don't see any crazy stories about him now in the social media era. I think he would have been a social media god if it existed back in his hey dey and he wanted to be.

[dougthonus]

That gambling thing would have been a snake in the grass waiting to strike though.

I think unless he was gambling against the Bulls it would have been irrelevant, and I can't imagine any scenario that he was doing that.

[Red8911]

Pippen is saying/writing controversial things for attention. He knows that the media will talk about him but honestly at this point people are going to start tuning him out because the things he says are ridiculous. He’s ruining his legacy with the way he’s acting.

[gardenofsound]

I know I'm not the only one who has said it, but media coverage back then just wasn't what it is now. I am 100% convinced that Michael Jordan's legacy would be much different in the current age of papparazzi and social media. Secrets are a lot harder to keep, and between the gambling and womanizing, I'm convinced that MJ's skeletons would have garnered much more criticism in the current era.

A lot of people say this, but I disagree. I think in this era he'd have been even bigger. The gambling story was just a non-story IMO. So MJ gambled a lot? So what? Why would anyone even care about this? In the social media era it would be totally dismissed.

MJ likely had affairs? You think NBA stars today aren't sleeping around? You don't think similar innuendo followed all those guys? Why would social media make these bigger unless there were crazy smoking guns?

MJ was savvy enough to avoid what he needed to avoid in the modern era if it came down to it. You don't see any crazy stories about him now in the social media era. I think he would have been a social media god if it existed back in his hey dey and he wanted to be.

And calling his teammates homophobic slurs, punching teammates in the face, etc would have been a good look these days, I'm sure. Bobby Portis is still trying to rewrite his narrative.

[Axl Rose]

MJ likely had affairs? You think NBA stars today aren't sleeping around?

Hell Lou Will was celebrated because he had 2 girlfriends

[MAQ]

I know I'm not the only one who has said it, but media coverage back then just wasn't what it is now. I am 100% convinced that Michael Jordan's legacy would be much different in the current age of papparazzi and social media. Secrets are a lot harder to keep, and between the gambling and womanizing, I'm convinced that MJ's skeletons would have garnered much more criticism in the current era.

A lot of people say this, but I disagree. I think in this era he'd have been even bigger. The gambling story was just a non-story IMO. So MJ gambled a lot? So what? Why would anyone even care about this? In the social media era it would be totally dismissed.

MJ likely had affairs? You think NBA stars today aren't sleeping around? You don't think similar innuendo followed all those guys? Why would social media make these bigger unless there were crazy smoking guns?

MJ was savvy enough to avoid what he needed to avoid in the modern era if it came down to it. You don't see any crazy stories about him now in the social media era. I think he would have been a social media god if it existed back in his hey dey and he wanted to be.

And calling his teammates homophobic slurs, punching teammates in the face, etc would have been a good look these days, I'm sure. Bobby Portis is still trying to rewrite his narrative.

People adjust with the times. He would have found new, acceptable words to demean his teammates.

And I'm willing to bet people are still fighting in practice. Bobby's incident is but a blip on his career at this point, and is only a thing because a teammate got seriously hurt during the fight.

[dougthonus]

I know I'm not the only one who has said it, but media coverage back then just wasn't what it is now. I am 100% convinced that Michael Jordan's legacy would be much different in the current age of papparazzi and social media. Secrets are a lot harder to keep, and between the gambling and womanizing, I'm convinced that MJ's skeletons would have garnered much more criticism in the current era.

A lot of people say this, but I disagree. I think in this era he'd have been even bigger. The gambling story was just a non-story IMO. So MJ gambled a lot? So what? Why would anyone even care about this? In the social media era it would be totally dismissed.

MJ likely had affairs? You think NBA stars today aren't sleeping around? You don't think similar innuendo followed all those guys? Why would social media make these bigger unless there were crazy smoking guns?

MJ was savvy enough to avoid what he needed to avoid in the modern era if it came down to it. You don't see any crazy stories about him now in the social media era. I think he would have been a social media god if it existed back in his hey dey and he wanted to be.

And calling his teammates homophobic slurs, punching teammates in the face, etc would have been a good look these days, I'm sure. Bobby Portis is still trying to rewrite his narrative.

Is your point that maybe Jordan wasn't really a good guy or that he would have universally been viewed as a bad guy with social media? If it is the first, I agree. If it's the second, I don't think Jordan would have struggled at all. Bobby Portis is well liked in all kinds of areas today, no one cares that he punched a teammate and he's not Michael Jordan.

[dougthonus]

Pippen is saying/writing controversial things for attention. He knows that the media will talk about him but honestly at this point people are going to start tuning him out because the things he says are ridiculous. He’s ruining his legacy with the way he’s acting.

One thing I'll add is that if these are the most controversial things in the book, then he isn't really saying anything meaningful at all. I mean typically the leaks now would be the most damning things, and this is all pretty soft stuff.

To say he and Jordan weren't best friends? We all know that. To say he was a better teammate? His teammates would all likely agree. To say he made Jordan? Stupid, but I would guess in the context it will talk about he improved Jordan's game by defending him in practice every day and while I don't think it made Jordan a star, it certainly didn't hurt Jordan to get to sharpen his sword against one of the best defenders in history on a daily basis.

[TheFinishSniper]

Get over it.

[Shill]

That gambling thing would have been a snake in the grass waiting to strike though.

I think unless he was gambling against the Bulls it would have been irrelevant, and I can't imagine any scenario that he was doing that.

Gambling has become completely normalized.

That wouldn't have been an issue at all.

[Shill]

I know I'm not the only one who has said it, but media coverage back then just wasn't what it is now. I am 100% convinced that Michael Jordan's legacy would be much different in the current age of papparazzi and social media. Secrets are a lot harder to keep, and between the gambling and womanizing, I'm convinced that MJ's skeletons would have garnered much more criticism in the current era.

A lot of people say this, but I disagree. I think in this era he'd have been even bigger. The gambling story was just a non-story IMO. So MJ gambled a lot? So what? Why would anyone even care about this? In the social media era it would be totally dismissed.

MJ likely had affairs? You think NBA stars today aren't sleeping around? You don't think similar innuendo followed all those guys? Why would social media make these bigger unless there were crazy smoking guns?

MJ was savvy enough to avoid what he needed to avoid in the modern era if it came down to it. You don't see any crazy stories about him now in the social media era. I think he would have been a social media god if it existed back in his hey dey and he wanted to be.

And calling his teammates homophobic slurs, punching teammates in the face, etc would have been a good look these days, I'm sure. Bobby Portis is still trying to rewrite his narrative.

Does anybody outside of Chicago know or care about the Portis punching incident?

And if Portis were an elite player, the narrative would've been different. Sorry to say, but it's true. Superstars just get treated differently.