Ever since The Last Dance premiered, it might seem like a no-win situation to criticize Michael Jordan. Scottie Pippen experiences this acutely. No one complimented MJ as he did on the court, yet he remained in Jordan’s shadow. When he tries to step out of it, he’s criticized for upsetting a delicate balance. From his memoir, Unguarded, to his anti-Last Dance tour, Pip was slammed all the way. Few wanted to hear Pip’s side of the story, including Gilbert Arenas. Months later, Jordan’s Washington teammate did a 180.
As it tends to happen on Gil’s Arena, a discussion on whether active players should have podcasts devolved into a debate on the Bulls dynasty civil war. The panel drew a parallel between podcasting athletes and Michael Jordan controlling his narrative through The Last Dance. That’s when “No Chill Gil” defied his co-hosts.
“You can see people like, ‘well, the f**k is Scottie Pippen got to say? Well that’s the motherf***er that won with him [Jordan]. So I to hear what he has to say,” Arenas loudly made his point. It’s valid that he wants Pippen’s opinion straight from him instead of a third-party observer’s account. The interesting bit is that when Pippen did put his narrative out there, Arenas said the exact opposite.
Earlier this year, Jordan’s ex-teammates, Pippen, Horace Grant, and Luc Longley embarked on the No Bull Tour. At its heart, it aimed to give the role players of the ’90s Bulls a platform to share their stories with international fans, particularly in Longley’s native Australia. However, it was perceived as retaliation to the Netflix docuseries and an up-yours to Jordan.
Arenas was against Pippen’s tour, expressing his discontent in an older episode of Gil’s Arena in February. In a long rant, what stood out was his statement, “I don’t wanna hear you motherf***ers b***h about what someone said or did to you if it led to a ring.” He argued that the three players who won championships as Bulls sent a bad message by complaining about Jordan’s documentary.
However, the tour was more wholesome than that, and the criticism was unwarranted. Today, Arenas says Pippen is, “The most glorified Robin and how is he treated?” Now Arenas believes that no one deserves to control his narrative more than Scottie Pippen. And really, Pip tried.
When Scottie Pippen went unheard
A year after The Last Dance aired, Pippen released his memoir, Unguarded. He used it to portray Jordan as a ‘bad teammate’ and revealed that Jordan was paid $10 million for The Last Dance while the rest of the players were paid nothing despite being shown in a poor light. It’s no exaggeration that many of Jordan’s old friends fell out with him over the documentary, but Pippen stands out because he was MJ’s Robin.
Like the tour, Pippen’s book was not well-received. Most of Jordan’s contemporaries refused to accept any MJ slander. In Unguarded, Pippen questioned the validity of Air Jordan’s 1988 DPOY stats, and it was sacrilegious just three years ago. In 2024, a journalist studied old games to provide statistical evidence that Jordan’s DPOY numbers were fabricated.
Yet, there are those like Andre Iguodala who not only deny the DPOY controversy, but also blame Pippen for creating the narrative. Whether it’s the uncomfortable truth or petty jabs, Arenas is right that Scottie Pippen deserves to be heard.
Stay tuned for more such updates and join us for the exciting second episode of the “Dual Threat Show” as our host BG12 sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and Mountain West All-Freshman Team Selection, Asia Avinger.