Scottie Pippen Thought Phil Jackson Was ‘Racist’ For Letting Toni Kukoc Take Game-Winning Shot vs. Knicks In 1994 Playoffs Instead Of Him: ‘I Told Myself At The Time That Phil’s Decision Must Have Been Racially Motivated’

NBA legend Scottie Pippen thought Chicago Bulls head coach Phil Jackson was “racist” for letting Toni Kukoc take the game-winning shot against the New York Knicks in Game 3 of the 1994 Eastern Conference Semifinals.

Pippen sat out the final 1.8 seconds of that game.

“Many were surprised in June when during a couple of interviews, I suggested Phil was a racist and that was why he designated Toni to take the last shot,” Pippen wrote in his book. “Nothing could be farther from the truth. I was so hurt when he picked Toni over me that I needed to come up with an explanation for why I was rejected. For why, after everything I had given to the Chicago Bulls, I wasn’t allowed to have my moment.

“So I told myself at the time that Phil’s decision must have been racially motivated and I allowed myself to believe that lie for nearly 30 years. Only when I saw my words in print did it dawn on me how wrong I was.”

Kukoc hit the game-winning shot against the Knicks.

However, the Bulls lost the series in seven games. 

Pippen, one of the best players in NBA history, yelled and cursed at Jackson after Jackson told him to pass the ball to Kukoc. 

“I was furious and let Phil know it. ‘Just do what I said,’ he barked. ‘F**k you!,’ I told him,” Pippen wrote. “After I chose not to go back on the floor for those final 1.8 seconds, Bill Cartwright and Johnny Bach urged me to change my mind. No chance. Phil put Pete Myers in to make the entry pass. The rest, as they say, is history. Toni hit an 18-footer over Anthony Mason. Bulls, 104; Knicks, 102.”

Cartwright cried in the postgame locker room after calling Pippen out for his actions.

Pippen apologized to his teammates for letting them down, but he was still angry at Jackson. 

“There was one person I was angry with: Phil Jackson,” Pippen wrote. “Michael Jordan was gone. This was my team now, my chance to be the hero, and Phil was giving that chance to Toni Kukoc? Are you serious? Toni was a rookie with no rings. I was in my seventh year with three rings. And, by the way, in the MVP race that season. The most humiliating part was Phil telling me I would throw the ball in bounds. At least when you’re on the floor, you can be a decoy. The Knicks would have put two defenders on me. Someone would have gotten a good look. 

“By not going back in the game, I did the right thing not just for myself and my pride. Also for the players who would come after me. Who, one day, might very well find themselves in the same position. Phil and I spoke about the matter the next day. He said something about me being the best passer on the team and referred to the three game-winning shots Toni hit during the regular season. Nothing he said changed my mind. ‘Are you telling me that, if Michael was playing, you would have had him take the ball out because Toni hit those shots?’ I asked. 

“I don’t recall how he responded. All I recall is that I was done with Phil Jackson. … Our relationship would never be the same no matter what triumphs would lie ahead. The moment of truth had come, and he had abandoned me. What would stop him from abandoning me again the next time?”

The Bulls won six NBA titles in the Pippen-Jordan-Jackson era. They went 6-0 in the NBA Finals and three-peated twice.