Scottie Pippen Received Text Message From Michael Jordan After ‘The Last Dance’ Documentary Came Out: ‘I’m Getting Word That You’re Upset With Me’

Michael Jordan texted Scottie Pippen after “The Last Dance” docuseries came out in 2020. 

Jordan found out that Pippen was upset with him. 

“The text was from Michael,” Pippen wrote in his book. “He didn’t reach out very often. ‘What’s up dude? I’m getting word that you’re upset with me. Love to talk about it if you have time.’ My schedule was packed that evening and I knew the conversation would take a while. I hit him back an hour and a half later: ‘Let’s talk tomorrow.'”

“The Last Dance” was a ten-part docuseries about the Chicago Bulls‘ final championship season in 1997-98. However, the documentary was basically a Jordan puff piece and Pippen was irate. 

“Michael was right,” Pippen wrote. “I was upset with him. It was because of The Last Dance. … 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. 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.”

Jordan and Pippen won six NBA championships together and three-peated twice while going undefeated in the NBA Finals during the 90’s. They are universally recognized as the greatest duo in NBA history. 

However, Jordan and Pippen are no longer on speaking terms. 

“On and on it went, the spotlight shining on number 23,” Pippen wrote. “Even in the second episode, which focused for a while on my difficult upbringing and unlikely path to the NBA, the narrative returned to MJ and his determination to win. I was nothing more than a prop. His ‘best teammates of all time,’ he called me. He couldn’t have been more condescending if he tried.

“On second thought, I could believe my eyes. I spent a lot of time around the man. I knew what made him tick. How naive I was to expect anything else. 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.”

Pippen wrote in his book that he caught up with Jordan two days after MJ messaged him. Pippen didn’t hold back in his text back to Jordan. 

“I was disappointed in the documentary,” Pippen texted Jordan. “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 Bulls defeated the Los Angeles Lakers, Portland Trail Blazers, Phoenix Suns, Seattle SuperSonics and Utah Jazz (twice) for their six NBA titles. Jordan won all six Finals MVPs. 

Pippen wrote in his book that he hated when people called him “Robin.”

“God, I hated that term and being referred to as Robin to his Batman,” Pippen wrote. “Someone he felt he needed to pull along to approach every game and practice as intensely as he did; me, a team-oriented purist, offended when he tried to win games by himself.”

Jordan averaged 31.5 points, 6.4 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 2.5 steals and 0.8 blocks alongside Pippen, while Pippen averaged 17.1 points, 6.4 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 2.0 steals and 0.9 blocks next to Jordan. 

The Bulls went an incredible 514-177 in the regular season when Jordan and Pippen played.