NBA Scorekeeper Who Gave Stats To Michael Jordan Even When He Didn’t Earn Them Went Into Bulls Locker Room And Said ‘See MJ, We Take Care Of You’

An NBA scorekeeper from the ’90s who gave stats to Michael Jordan even when he didn’t earn them went into the Chicago Bulls room after one game and said, “See MJ, we take care of you.”

Scottie Pippen, who won six NBA titles with Jordan, wrote about it in his book, “Unguarded.”

“Michael was better at getting people to do whatever he wanted,” Pippen wrote. “I saw it over and over, from the first training camp in 1987 to the last victory rally in 1998. Here’s how it worked: Say I deflected the ball and tapped it over to him. I should get credit with the steal, right? Nope. More often than not, the steal went into his column on the stat sheet, and I could do nothing about it.

“One night, a scorekeeper came into the locker room after the game to hand the stat sheets to Phil Jackson and the coaching staff. The sheet breaks down the points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocked shots, turnovers, and so on for everyone who played the game. I couldn’t believe the look the guy gave Michael: ‘See MJ, we take care of you.’ No wonder in the nine full seasons we played together, he averaged more steals than me in every year except two.”

Jordan led the NBA in steals per game in 1987-88, 1989-90 and 1992-93. He’s third in NBA history in steals per game and fourth in steals. 

Pippen is seventh all-time in steals and 14th in steals per game.

Jordan and Pippen are two of the greatest defenders in NBA history. The Bulls legends combined to make 19 All-Defensive teams. 

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 regular-season 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 won the 1993-94 All-Star Game MVP Award and the 1994-95 steals title. 

The Bulls went 6-0 in the NBA Finals in the Jordan-Pippen era. They beat the Los Angeles Lakers, Portland Trail Blazers, Phoenix Suns, Seattle SuperSonics and Utah Jazz (twice).