Chicago Bulls: Pippen continues to blast his relationship with MJ

It’s roughly one week until the memoir from the Chicago Bulls Hall-of-Fame forward Scottie Pippen releases. That is specifically set to drop on Nov. 9. But there is drama that is, of course, unfolding ahead of the release of this memoir from Pippen. This is heavily involving the Bulls’ all-time great shooting guard Michael Jordan, a longtime teammate of Pippen’s.

A piece released by the New York Times this week details more parts of the release of this book from Pippen that is taking “aim” at Jordan. This New York Times piece from Sopan Deb, published on Nov. 3, is titled “Scottie Pippen Takes Aim at Michael Jordan in New Book”. And it’s hard to sum it up better than that.

Earlier this week, there was a piece published in GQ online that detailed how Pippen wasn’t a fan of how Jordan curated the hit 10-part docuseries that released last year on ESPN/ABC/Netflix “The Last Dance”. That piece gave some insight into how he was taking aim at Jordan too, stating that the legendary shooting guard didn’t give their teammates enough credit in the docuseries.

It seems like Pippen has really taken issue with the spotlight that Jordan received since the release of The Last Dance, and the lack thereof for him and other Bulls’ teammates they had in the 1980s and 1990s. And if that was all that Pippen was doing here to create some issues with Jordan, it could be understandable.

Chicago Bulls Hall-of-Famer Scottie Pippen continues to take shots at Michael Jordan ahead of his memoir release

But it seems like there was something new that Pippen started in terms of drama and/or rumors in the lead-up to the release of his book since the summer each passing week. Whether it be Jordan, legendary Bulls head coach Phil Jackson, or some of the former notable foes of his in his playing days in the NBA, Pippen has taken issue with a number of different parties ahead of the release of his memoir.

One particular point that Pippen highlights since the release of The Last Dance is that Jordan should not have called him “selfish” for not getting surgery during the 1997 offseason. Pippen delayed foot surgery ahead of the start of the 1997-98 season in a sort of payback attempt at the front office for not giving him a more lucrative salary.

There are so many different takes that you could have on all of these issues that Pippen has mentioned in the lead-up to, and in what we know about, his memoir release next week. It will be interesting to see what this memoir actually reads like, but it seems like we know a lot about the theme and tone of it already.

A piece released this week by Sam Fels of Deadspin hits the nail right on the head of how Pippen is now detailing a lot of the “anger” he feels from his playing days in the NBA and the time since. We’re going to see a lot of different reactions come down from so many different sources. This will be a polarizing topic for a good while.

Pippen and Jordan won six titles together during the dynasty years with the Bulls in the 1990s. They are also both Hall-of-Famers and have 21 All-Star selections and 18 All-NBA Team selections between the two of them.