Michael Jordan Thought Scottie Pippen ‘Was Being Selfish’ When He Delayed Surgery On Purpose And Requested Trade From Bulls In 1997-98: ‘Worrying About Himself’

Michael Jordan thought Scottie Pippen “was being selfish” when he delayed surgery on purpose and requested a trade from the Chicago Bulls during the 1997-98 NBA season.

Pippen postponed his foot surgery on purpose until October 1997 as his way of thumbing his nose at Bulls general manager Jerry Krause for not extending his contract. 

In November 1997, Pippen publicly demanded a trade from the Bulls, stating he wouldn’t come off the injured list until the team traded him.

“I felt like Scottie was being selfish,” Jordan said in ESPN’s The Last Dance docuseries. “Worrying about himself as opposed to what his word was to the organization, as well as to the team.”

Pippen was not happy Jordan called him “selfish” in “The Last Dance” doc. The small forward wrote about that quote in his book, “Unguarded.”

“Even so, how dare Michael call me selfish? You want to know what selfish is? Selfish is retiring right before the start of training camp when it is too late for the organization to sign free agents. When Michael put the Bulls in that position in 1993, Jerry Krause was forced to bring in a journeyman, Pete Myers, who had most recently played for a team in Italy.”

The Bulls didn’t trade Pippen in 1997-98. Pippen admitted he knew that would happen in Episode 2 of “The Last Dance” docuseries. The swingman made his 1997-98 debut on January 10, 1998, against the Golden State Warriors at the United Center. 

With Jordan, Pippen and Dennis Rodman back on the court together, the Bulls were once again primed to win a championship despite all the turmoil behind the scenes.

The Bulls won 62 games in 1997-98 and beat the Utah Jazz in the 1998 NBA Finals to capture their sixth title. Jordan won his sixth Finals MVP by averaging 33.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.8 steals and 0.7 blocks in the six-game series.

The Bulls traded Pippen to the Houston Rockets in 1998 after Jordan retired. As part of the sign-and-trade deal, Pippen signed a five-year, $67.2 million contract, finally receiving the money he earned.

Chicago defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1991 NBA Finals, the Portland Trail Blazers in the 1992 NBA Finals, the Phoenix Suns in the 1993 NBA Finals, the Seattle SuperSonics in the 1996 NBA Finals and the Jazz in the 1997 and 1998 NBA Finals. 

In two stints with the Bulls, Jordan averaged 31.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 2.5 steals and 0.9 blocks. He won five MVPs, six Finals MVPs, one Defensive Player of the Year Award, 10 scoring titles and three steals titles. 

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. Pippen made seven All-Star teams, 10 All-Defensive teams and seven All-NBA teams as a member of the Bulls.