Scottie Pippen and Michael Jordan were of the best duos to ever grace a basketball court, but it doesn’t mean they jell well off the court.
Their relationship has soured in a very public way over the years and Pippen recently gave a very real answer as to why he thinks their fractured relationship won’t really ever get patched up.
“I just think Michael is a very difficult person to deal with,” Pippen said on PBD podcast. “I played with him for years so I know that when it’s time for you to move in you direction, then go in your direction. Don’t sit there and try to procrastinate or stretch it that the relationship is not where it was or not what it used to be, and it’s never going to be the same. So why try and make something out of nothing? Or try to make something that was never there?”
Scottie went on to explain how when he attended parties and social events with MJ on the BUlls, it was never the two of them, so they weren’t actually that close in reality.
“I guess the last three championships that we won, we trained together at his house, but other than that, we didn’t really put a lot of time in away from basketball. Most of our time was spent whether we were working out or on the practice floor,” he explained.
While Pippen has a clear dislike of his former teammate these days, he acknowledged their friendship breakdown wasn’t all Jordan’s fault in his book.
“I don’t usually allow our lack of closeness to bother me,” Pippen wrote. “I have plenty of friends. Yet there are occasions, and watching the doc was definitely one when I think about the relationship I wish the two of us had, and it hurts. It hurts a lot. By no means am I an innocent party here. I missed some openings that might have made a difference, and I have to live with that.”
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