Pippen: Last Dance? They glorified MJ while not giving nearly enough praise to me and my teammates

Pippen: 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.

In ‘Unguarded’, the biography of Scottie Pippen out on November 9, 2021, the Hall of Famer returns to talk about ‘The Last Dance’.

(an excerpt of ‘Unguarded’ via GQ).

The final two episodes aired on May 17. Similar to the previous eight, they glorified Michael Jordan while not giving nearly enough praise to me and my proud teammates.

ESPN sent me links to the first eight episodes a couple of weeks in advance. As I watched the doc at home in Southern California with my three teenage boys, I couldn’t believe my eyes.

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.

Each episode was the same: Michael on a pedestal, his teammates secondary, smaller, the message no different from when he referred to us back then as his “supporting cast.” From one season to the next, we received little or no credit whenever we won but the bulk of the criticism when we lost. Michael could shoot 6 for 24 from the field, commit 5 turnovers, and he was still, in the minds of the adoring press and public, the Errorless Jordan.

Now here I was, in my midfifties, seventeen years since my final game, watching us being demeaned once again. Living through it the first time was insulting enough.