Scottie Pippen ripped Michael Jordan over $10 million payday from ‘The Last Dance’

Michael Jordan made millions from The Last Dance. Scottie Pippen says he and the rest of the Bulls got nothing.

And as Pippen sees it, that pretty much sums up how things worked in Chicago during the dynasty years.

Jordan reportedly received $10 million for his involvement in the 2020 ESPN documentary, which chronicled the Bulls’ final championship season of 1997-98. Pippen, who won six NBA titles alongside Jordan, wasn’t thrilled with how the money was distributed.

He wasn’t particularly happy with the documentary itself, either.

“To make things worse, Michael received $10 million for his role in the doc while my teammates and I didn’t earn a dime, another reminder of the pecking order from the old days,” Pippen wrote in his memoir, Unguarded.

“For an entire season, we allowed cameras into the sanctity of our locker rooms, our practices, our hotels, our huddles, our lives.”

Of course, Jordan was the main attraction. He always was. But Pippen believed the documentary went too far in portraying Jordan as the driving force behind everything the Bulls accomplished.

And he wasn’t shy about saying so.

“Similar to the previous eight, they glorified Michael Jordan while not giving nearly enough praise to me and my proud teammates,” Pippen wrote of the documentary’s final two episodes.

“Michael deserved a large portion of the blame. The producers had granted him editorial control of the final product. The doc couldn’t have been released otherwise. He was the leading man and the director.”

Pippen went further, suggesting that even the portions dedicated to his own story eventually became another opportunity to celebrate Jordan.

“I was nothing more than a prop,” Pippen wrote. “His ‘best teammates of all time,’ he called me. He couldn’t have been more condescending if he tried.”

That’s some pretty strong criticism of a former teammate with whom Pippen won six championships and reached the NBA Finals six times without a loss.

Together, Jordan and Pippen helped build one of the greatest dynasties in professional sports. The Bulls won three straight championships from 1991-93, then did it again from 1996-98.

Jordan averaged 31.5 points, 6.4 rebounds and 5.6 assists during his years alongside Pippen. Meanwhile, Pippen averaged 17.1 points, 6.4 rebounds and 5.3 assists playing with Jordan.

They were arguably the greatest duo in NBA history.

But being great together on the court didn’t mean they always saw eye to eye away from it.

In fact, Pippen revealed that Jordan reached out after learning of his frustration with The Last Dance.

“What’s up dude? I’m getting word that you’re upset with me. Love to talk about it if you have time,” Jordan wrote in a text message, according to Pippen’s book.

Pippen eventually made his feelings clear.

“I was disappointed in the documentary,” he wrote back. “It didn’t shine a good light on me. You were promoting The Last Dance but switched it to the Michael Jordan documentary. I don’t know what you are selling. Was I great or was I villain?”

The documentary was a massive success, bringing the Bulls’ dynasty back into the spotlight more than two decades after their final championship.

But for Pippen, it also reopened some old wounds.

Six championships. Two three-peats. One of the most successful partnerships basketball has ever seen.

And apparently, some disagreements that even all those championships couldn’t settle.