Michael Jordan #23 and Scottie Pippen #33 of the Chicago Bulls huddle together against the Charlotte Hornets. Photo / Getty Images.
Michael Jordan #23 and Scottie Pippen #33 of the Chicago Bulls huddle together against the Charlotte Hornets. Photo / Getty Images.
NBA great Horace Grant isn't the only former teammate of Michael Jordan who is absolutely filthy with how he was portrayed in The Last Dance documentary.
You can add Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen to that list too.
According to David Kaplan of ESPN Radio in Chicago, Pippen, who won six NBA championships with Jordan and the Chicago Bulls during the 1990s, is "so angry" and "beyond livid" at his teammate for how he came across in the 10-part ESPN-Netflix documentary.
Pippen's unhappiness derives from Jordan calling him "selfish" and that he "didn't realise what he was getting himself into" during the series, Fox News reports.
"[Pippen] felt like up until the last few minutes of Game 6 against the Jazz [in the 1998 NBA Finals], it was just 'bash Scottie, bash Scottie, bash Scottie,'" Kaplan said.
ESPN this week also reported Pippen has been left "wounded" and "disappointed" by his portrayal in the series, despite Jordan declaring Pippen was the greatest teammate he ever had.
Pippen was a central character in the early episodes of the series with his contract stand-off with Bulls management featuring prominently as one of the reasons the defending champions got off to such a disastrous start to the 1997-98 NBA season.
With Jordan reportedly earning more than the rest of his 14 teammates combined heading into the team's final championship season — Pippen took the biggest hit in the hip pocket.
His salary of $2,775,000 was dwarfed by Jordan's stunning $33,140,000 annual wages — despite Pippen widely established as one of the best five players in the NBA at the time.
Pippen was entering the final season of a seven-year, $18 million deal he inked all the way back in 1991. A contract even Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf labelled as a mistake and told Pippen as much.
His frustration with his contract boiled over entering the 1997/98 season as Pippen elected to have surgery that would sideline him and not see him take the court until January and without him in the line-up, the Bulls struggled in the early going of the season.
Jordan's criticism of Pippen's "selfish" decision in the documentary has not sat well with his former right hand man, according to the ESPN report.
Pippen has also gone dark on social media since the series first aired last month, not posting or commenting on his official Twitter account since April 15.
Michael Jordan embraces Scottie Pippen. Photo / AP
Pippen's frustrations have emerged just days after teammate Grant accused Jordan of being a "damn snitch" over claims made in the documentary.
Grant says Jordan flat out told lies, accusing his former teammate of being the source behind a revealing book on Chicago's first championship.
Reporter Sam Smith's 'The Jordan Rules' book was released in 1992 and shared behind the scenes details of the team's run to their first NBA title in 1991 and showed off a side of Jordan the world hadn't seen before.
Jordan turned from icon to villain in the eyes of many after the book hit shelves, leaving the Chicago star unhappy with what had been brought to light. But after so many years just who spoke to Smith remained a point of contention, Jordan believes it was Grant who was in Smith's ear.
"I didn't contribute to that," Jordan said during The Last Dance.
"That was Horace. He was telling everything that was happening within the group."
Grant, who has long denied he was the one feeding behind the scenes information to Smith, unloaded over the latest allegations levelled at him during an interview with ESPN Radio in Chicago and took a shot at the docu-series that has taken the world by storm.
"That is a downright, outright, completely lie. Lie, lie, lie. And as I stated, if M.J. had a grudge with me, let's settle it like men. Let's talk about it, or we can settle it another way.
"Yet and still, he puts out this lie out that I was the source behind it. Sam and I have always been great friends, we're still great friends. But the sanctity of that locker room, I would never put anything personal out there.
"The mere fact that Sam Smith was an investigative reporter, that he had to have two sources – two – to write a book. Why would M.J. just point me out?
"It's only a grudge man, and I think he proved that during the so-called documentary. If you say something about him, he's gonna cut you off, he's gonna try to destroy your character.
"I mean, Charles Barkley, they've been friends for over 20, 30 years, and he said something about Michael's management with the Charlotte Bobcats or Charlotte Hornets, and they haven't spoken since then.
"My point is, he says I was the snitch, but still after 35 years he brings up his rookie year, going into one of his teammates rooms and seeing coke and weed and women.
"My point is, why did he want to bring that up? What does that got to do with anything? If you want to call somebody a snitch, that's a damn snitch right there."
Grant added that if you say something about Jordan, "he's going to try to destroy your character."
Grant also confirmed a story from Smith earlier this month. Smith told KNBR that Jordan took Grant's food away when the forward had a bad game. Grant said he didn't take it lightly.
"Anybody [who] knows me, as a rookie, if anybody comes up and tries to snatch my food away, I'm going to do my best to beat their a***," he said.
"And believe me, back then, I could have took MJ in a heartbeat. Yes, it's true that he told the flight attendant, 'Well, don't give him anything because he played like crap'. And I went right back at him.
"I said some choice words that I won't repeat here. But I said some choice words and stood up. 'If you want it, you come and get it'.
"And of course, he didn't move. He was just barking. But that was the story. But anybody [who] knows me, where I come from and what I stand for, come on, man. There's nobody in this Earth would ever come and try to take food off my plate and not get their rear ends beaten."
Grant said he last spoke to Jordan about three years ago but wasn't concerned whether they were still on good terms.
