In the world of sports, there can sometimes be hard feelings between former competitors or teammates, and Scottie Pippen has certainly been proving the latter scenario to be true. In his new book, the hall of famer shares some honest thoughts on his fellow Chicago Bull, Michael Jordan. His comments have since captured the attention of plenty of fans -- and a number of former players. Now, another of Pippen and Jordan’s colleagues, Scott Williams, is commenting on the former’s claims that he was the better teammate. And Williams actually believes Jordan to be the most effective, partially due to the way in which he keeps in touch.
Scott Williams played alongside both legendary athletes from 1990 to 1993, during which the Bulls won three consecutive NBA championships. Following Air Jordan’s retirement from the league in ‘93, Williams would play alongside Scottie Pippen for one additional season, before he signed with the Philadelphia 76ers in 1994. Despite having had more time with Pippen, Williams recently claimed that the Last Dance producer is the one who is more likely to text him back. And it sounds like the two chat on a number of occasions:
I text him and he always responds. I know he’s on the golf course or doing his business with his car or the Hornets. That I can appreciate. Like, ‘Hey, I see you’re going to be on Good Morning America to pump up The Last Dance. Are you up? You ready?’ Little stuff like that. He’s like, ‘Yeah, my brother, I’m up. I’m ready to go.’ Little things like that mean a lot. I know plenty of times I’ve texted Pip and it’s been radio silence. Or Amare Stoudemire, ‘Hey, happy birthday, Stat,’ and then crickets. So you tell me who’s been the better teammate over the years?
The former player’s statements to Daily Herald seem to paint a solid picture of his relationship with Michael Jordan. While it definitely doesn’t appear that the two talk on a regular basis, they still seem relatively friendly with one another. Interestingly enough, some may have previously assumed that this was the kind of bond Jordan had with Scottie Pippen in their post-professional basketball lives. However, Pippen’s recent statements seem to indicate that he wasn’t friends with the Space Jam star then and isn’t today.
In Unguarded, his newly released memoir, the veteran athlete doubled down on the fact that he was not pleased with ESPN’s The Last Dance. Not only did he confirm that the docuseries “upset” him, but he also claimed that the show only “glorified” the man known as His Airness. The Arkansas native attributed his issue to Jordan Brand reportedly having creative control over the doc. In a separate interview, the former small forward asserted that he and MJ did not have the close relationship many believed they had and that the Emmy-winning series made that aspect clear.
The somewhat polarizing show was viewed by (and featured) quite a few former players, who played in the NBA during the ‘90s. Inside the NBA analyst Kenny Smith, also weighed in on the statements, saying that the documentary was not a “fictitious story.” Former Chicago Bull Charles Oakley, who spoke out ahead of the release of his old teammate’s book, was mostly fine with the doc. When speaking on the situation, Charles Barkley was a bit more direct, as he claimed these new sentiments were just a way for the Chicago icon to sell books. He also stated that the player should’ve found a different way to air his opinions.
Aside from the Last Dance discourse though, another well-known Bulls player has spoken on the teammate aspect of this. Toni Kukoč, who was with Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen during their second championship three-peat, named Pippen as his favorite on-court partner. While Kukoč did call Jordan the “best” skill-wise, he highlighted Pippen’s team-oriented style of play as a plus.
The seemingly one-sided conflict between one of the NBA’s best duos has definitely taken on a life of its own and, at this point, it doesn’t look like Scottie Pippen is quite done talking. It’ll be interesting to see what he might share next and how any of his other basketball peers choose to respond. While you wait for more on that, you can stream The Last Dance for yourself on Netflix and ESPN+.
