ESPN’s recent 10-part documentary on basketball legend Michael Jordan has received big ratings but it has also left several former Chicago Bulls teammates disgruntled. Among them is Scottie Pippen, who reportedly is "livid" and "so angry" at how he was portrayed in the documentary, according to ESPN radio host David Kaplan.
"He is so angry at Michael and how he was portrayed, called selfish, called this, called that, that he's furious that he participated and did not realize what he was getting himself into," Kaplan said, according to CBS Sports.
Jordan called Pippen selfish during the second episode of the series when Pippen made the decision to have ankle surgery just before the start of the 1997-1998 season rather than during the offseason. At the time, he was embattled in a contract dispute with manager Jerry Krause and the surgery forced him to miss out on the first few months of play.
That was not the only jab that angered Pippen. Jordan also brought up the 1990 Eastern Conference final, which the Bulls lost to the Pistons, and how Pippen had struggled to play due to migraines.
Another incident fresh in Pippen’s mind was the 1998 NBA Finals against the Jazz. During the last few minutes of the game "it was just 'bash Scottie, bash Scottie, bash Scottie'" said Kaplan.
Referencing the game, former teammate Horace Grant spoke out on behalf of Pippen in a radio interview with ESPN 1000.
"Pip was out there in Game 6 [of the ‘98 Finals], could barely walk, getting knocked down on his back. Tried to do whatever he could to help that team," he said, per New York Post.
Grant added that Jordan was a liar.
"I would say [it was] entertaining, but we know, who was there as teammates, that about 90% of it was BS in terms of the realness of it," he said.
"It wasn’t real — because a lot of things [Jordan] said to some of his teammates, that his teammates went back at him. But all of that was kind of edited out of the documentary, if you want to call it a documentary."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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