Michael Jordan thought it was valuable for Scottie Pippen to play without him during the 1993-94 NBA season.
Jordan retired in 1993 to play baseball following the tragic murder of his father.
“I think it exposed him to a lot of the sheltering that I gave him,” Jordan told SLAM in 1997. “So I think he had a better understanding about the game. He became better, once I came back. And we became better as a tandem, once I came back.”
The Chicago Bulls went 55-27 in 1993-94 without Jordan. Pippen averaged 22.0 points, 8.7 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 2.9 steals and 0.8 blocks. He finished third in MVP voting behind Hakeem Olajuwon and David Robinson.
The Bulls beat the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round of the 1994 playoffs but lost to the New York Knicks in the second round in seven games.
“Very hard,” Jordan told SLAM when he was asked how hard it was to watch the Bulls in the 1994 playoffs. “Because I knew that [Scottie] wasn’t getting the fullness out of his players, and he was carrying a lot of the load. It reminded me so much of me when I was there, earlier in my career.”
Pippen sat out the final 1.8 seconds of Game 3 of the 1994 Eastern Conference Semifinals between the Bulls and Knicks.
Phil Jackson drew up the game-winning play for Toni Kukoc and Pippen was furious.
Jordan returned to the NBA near the end of the 1994-95 season. He appeared in 17 games and averaged 26.9 points.
Chicago defeated the Charlotte Hornets in the first round of the 1995 playoffs but lost to the Orlando Magic in the second round.
In the summer of 1995, Jordan transformed his body from a baseball frame back to a basketball build and the rest is history.
The 1995-96 season was a remarkable campaign for Jordan and the Bulls. Chicago went 72-10 and Jordan won his fourth MVP and eighth scoring title. Jordan averaged 30.4 points, 6.6 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 2.2 steals and 0.5 blocks.
The Bulls beat the Miami Heat in the first round and the Knicks in the second round of the 1996 playoffs, setting up a rematch with the Magic, this time in the conference finals.
Everyone in the sports world knew Jordan wanted to face Orlando again.
The Bulls swept the Magic in the 1996 Eastern Conference Finals to advance to the NBA Finals. Jordan and Co. faced off against the Seattle SuperSonics in the 1996 NBA Finals.
Chicago defeated Seattle in six games, with Jordan winning the Finals MVP Award.
Jordan led the Bulls to two more championships in 1997 and 1998 before retiring again. He played two seasons with the Washington Wizards in 2001-02 and 2002-03 before retiring from the NBA for good.
Arguably the best player in NBA history, Jordan had two stints with the Bulls. He won the 1984-85 Rookie of the Year Award, five regular-season MVPs, one Defensive Player of the Year Award, 10 scoring titles, three steals titles, six championships and six Finals MVPs.
Jordan averaged 30.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 2.3 steals and 0.8 blocks with the Bulls and Wizards.
Like Jordan, Pippen also had two stints with the Bulls. He averaged 17.7 points, 6.7 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 2.1 steals and 0.9 blocks and made seven All-Star teams, 10 All-Defensive teams and seven All-NBA teams.
Pippen finished his career with averages of 16.1 points, 6.4 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 2.0 steals and 0.8 blocks in 1,118 games with the Bulls, Houston Rockets and Portland Trail Blazers.
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