Scottie Pippen says Michael Jordan was a ‘HORRIBLE player’ before he arrived at the Bulls

Scottie Pippen has discredited Michael Jordan’s standing in the NBA, labeling him a ‘horrible player’ prior to the Jordan-Pippen era, which produced six championships for the Chicago Bulls franchise. 

A clip of Pippen dissing his former friend and teammate went viral Friday as the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer discussed LeBron James.

The Lakers star has been a topic of conversation this week after he said, unsolicited, he was considering retirement after being swept by Denver in the Western Conference Finals. 

‘LeBron will be the greatest statistical guy to ever play the game of basketball,’ Pippen said. ‘And there’s no comparison to him, none!’

Though, Pippen stopped short of stating that 38-year-old James was the G.O.A.T. 

Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen were teammates at the Bulls during the 1980s and 1990s

The once-formidable pair have had their relationship strained by events throughout the years

‘So, does that make him the greatest player to ever play the game? I’ll leave that out for debating.

‘I don’t believe that there’s a great player because our game is a team game and one player can’t do it.’

This led to Jordan’s name being brought up. Both Pippen and Jordan were part of the most successful period in Bulls history, playing alongside each other between 1987-93 and 1995-98.  

‘I seen Michael Jordan play before I came to play with the Bulls,’ Pippen added. 

‘You guys seen him play, he was a horrible player. He was horrible to play with, he was all one-on-one, he’s shooting bad shots. All of a sudden, we become a team and we start winning, everybody forgot who he was.’

The pair won the NBA championship between 1991-93 and 1996-98 as the Bulls strung together two famous three-peats. 

Jordan’s son, Marcus, is now dating Pippen’s ex-wife and Real Housewives of Miami star, Larsa

Pippen & his ex-wife were married in 1997 before their divorce was finalized in December 2021 

It isn’t the first time Pippen has criticized MJ. In his memoir, Unguarded, Pippen said he ‘was nothing more than a prop’ in Jordan’s The Last Dance docuseries. He added the NBA legend ‘couldn’t have been more condescending if he tried.’

What makes the Jordan-Pippen feud all the more intriguing is MJ’s son, Marcus, has been dating Pippen’s ex-wife, Larsa, for some time. 

Jordan Jr. has been dating the Real Housewives of Miami Star since the latter months of 2022. 

Larsa said in a recent interview with Tamron Hall, she had spent ‘a lot of time’ with Jordan and Marcus’ mom, Juanita, who were ‘fine’ with the romance.

Scottie and Larsa were married for 14 years before their split in 2021.