In his memoir, basketball Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen said that scorekeepers would often misrecord Michael Jordan’s stats and subtract his own stats.
The 58-year-old was a formidable offensive and defensive threat who won six NBA championships with Jordan with the Chicago Bulls in the 1990s.
In his memoir, “Unguarded,” Pippen alluded to the idea that Jordan tried to manipulate scorers and tamper with statistics in his favor.
“Michael was good at letting guys do whatever he wanted,” Pippin reportedly wrote in the excerpt. “I saw it time and time again, from his first training camp in 1987 to his final victory rally in 1998. Here’s how it works: Let’s say I deflected the ball and tapped him out. Should I get credit for the steal? No, I don’t. Most of the time, the steal goes in his box on the stat sheet and there’s nothing I can do about it,” Pippin claimed. Jump into sports.
“Playing with him was awful. It was all one-on-one. He’s a poor shot.”
Pippen recalled when the scorer came into the locker room after the game and told Jordan not to worry, that they would “take care of him.”
“One night after a game, the scorekeeper came into the locker room and handed Phil Jackson and the coaches a stat sheet detailing every point, rebound, assist, steal, blocked shot and turnover by every player in the game. I couldn’t believe the look he gave Michael: ‘See, MJ, we’re going to take care of you.’ No wonder Michael averaged more steals than I did in all but two of the nine seasons we played together.”
Jordan led the NBA in steals per game twice, in 1987-1988 and 1992-1993.
Pippen led the league in scoring once, in 1994-1995.
Tensions between the former teammates grew over the years, with Pippen’s comments becoming increasingly harsh.
“He was terrible to play with. It was all one-on-one. He was hitting bad shots,” Pippen said. 2023 On the start of Jordan’s career: “All of a sudden we came together as a team and started winning. People forgot who he was. Winning wasn’t his number one category. Scoring was.”
It was also no secret that Jordan’s son, Marcus, 33, dated Pippen’s ex-wife, Larsa, 49, for several years before the pair reportedly split in the early 2000s. 2024.
“What’s wrong with this guy? I think he’s trying to sell books,” says the commentator. Eric Butler “What’s even weirder is that Pippen’s ex-wife dated Jordan’s son, so their whole relationship is weird, and then there’s the fact that Pippen is claiming that Michael wasn’t as good as everyone thought he was, which is obviously not true,” Butler added.
Pippen was a seven-time NBA All-Star and had his number 33 retired by the Chicago Bulls in 2005.
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