Ex-Bulls Star Would Not Be Counted Among NBA Greats Without Jordan, Says Sports Author

Scottie Pippen is in the limelight once more, and it has hit basketball fans in different ways.

The 56-year-old said in an interview that Michael Jordan’s comments about him during “The Last Dance” were condescending.

But a couple of sports pundits feel that he should just be grateful since he would not be recognized as an NBA great without Jordan and ex-Chicago Bulls coach Phil Jackson.

In the eyes of decorated book author Roland Lazenby, Pippen’s rants may be nothing more than a way to drive up sales for the six-time NBA champion’s upcoming book “Unguarded.”

“When news of Scottie's allegations first came out some months ago, my response was, well, Scottie's got a book coming out. He needs controversy perhaps to sell books,” the 69-year-old said on Facebook.

Beyond that, the “Bull Run! The Story of the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls” and “Blood on the Horns: The Long Strange Ride of Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls” author stressed that Pippen would have not been successful had it not been for Jordan and Jackson.

“Both of them made him be great. It is a testament to Scottie that he responded by becoming great. I'm not sure, however, that he would have ever done it on his own,” the American scribe stated.

Also sounding off on the current tirade of Pippen is NBA analyst Skip Bayless.

In all, Bayless pretty much concurred with what Lazenby said about the seven-time All-Star, adding that Pippen is lucky that he got to play alongside “His Airness” at the time.

"Scottie Pippen should thank his lucky stars every night that he got to play with the Greatest Player Ever in any sport. Without Michael Jordan, Pippen would've been just another pretty good player nobody really cares about. He's still riding Jordan's coattails," Bayless shared.

Despite the special mention of him by Jordan on the Netflix documentary, Pippen saw it in a different light.

As far as Pippen is concerned, it was Jordan glorifying himself rather than the entire Bulls squad in the 90s.

“I was nothing more than a prop. His ‘best teammate of all time,’ he called me. He couldn’t have been more condescending if he tried,” part of what Pippen said in his interview with GQ Magazine.

The comments come months after Pippen also accused Jackson of being a racist. This was about the 1994 NBA playoffs, wherein the Bulls coach opted to go with Toni Kukoc.

Angered, Pippen asked out of that game.