Bulls Players Used To Ask Scottie Pippen If Michael Jordan Would Sign Things For Them: ‘Guys Were Starstruck As If He Were A Matinee Idol’

Chicago Bulls players used to ask Scottie Pippen if NBA icon Michael Jordan would sign things for them. 

Jordan was the most popular athlete in the world in the ’90s. 

“Guys were starstruck as if he were a matinee idol, which I suppose he was,” Pippen wrote in his book. “I’m talking about grown men who had been in the league for years. They didn’t know how to approach him. In many cases, they didn’t bother. Better to keep their distance than say the wrong thing and get on his bad side. I can’t tell you how many times a teammate would come up to me and ask, ‘Hey, do you think I can get MJ to sign this?’ Every time, whether it was a jersey for their kid brother or a program from a where Michael scored 50 points, I gave them the same look: good luck.”

The beginning of Episode 6 of ESPN’s “The Last Dance” docuseries showed an old Jordan commercial where the NBA legend spoke about his life not being as fun as everybody thought it was.

If you valued your privacy, being Jordan would have been a nightmare.

“It’s funny, a lot of people say they’d like to be Michael Jordan for a day or for a week, but let them try to be Michael Jordan for a year, see if they like it,” Jordan said in the commercial. “I don’t think you can see the true Michael Jordan for just a day. I don’t think they quite understand it’s no fun.”

Pippen, who won six NBA championships with Jordan, was one of the few people who didn’t want to be like Jordan since fame had taken over MJ’s life. 

“Playing cards was also an opportunity for Michael to get away from people who might otherwise approach him in the airport for an autograph or photo,” Pippen wrote in his book. “You can’t imagine how many requests there were, and that was before he became even more popular in the midnineties. Michael and I got along well enough, though I could tell even then we were never going to be close. Maybe if we had played golf together, with the Wilson clubs he gave me rookie year, it would have been different. I doubt it. He lived in a different world from the rest of us. It occurred to me on more than a few occasions: If this is what fame looks like, I don’t want any part of it. Everyone fussed over Michael as if he were the king of Siam. He was a basketball player.”

Jordan, who played for the Bulls and Washington Wizards, is first in NBA history in points per game, fourth in steals, fifth in field goals and second in player efficiency rating. He also holds the NBA record for most points (63) scored in a playoff game. 

Jordan has career averages of 30.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 2.3 steals and 0.8 blocks. He won five MVPs, one Defensive Player of the Year Award, six championships, six Finals MVPs, 10 scoring titles and three steals titles with the Bulls.