Scottie Pippen upset Michael Jordan made $10 million from The Last Dance doc while he and his Bulls teammates received nothing: ‘Another reminder of the pecking order from the old days’

NBA icon Michael Jordan made $10 million from The Last Dance doc, which came out in 2020. 

Scottie Pippen and the rest of his Chicago Bulls teammates received nothing. 

Pippen, who won six rings with Jordan, isn’t pleased about MJ getting all that money. 

“To make things worse, Michael received $10 million for his role in the doc while my teammates and I didn’t earn a dime, another reminder of the pecking order from the old days,” Pippen wrote in his book. “For an entire season, we allowed cameras into the sanctity of our locker rooms, our practices, our hotels, our huddles, our lives.”

The Last Dance was sold as a ten-part docuseries about the Bulls’ final championship season in 1997-98.

However, the documentary was a Jordan puff piece and Pippen was incensed. 

“Michael was right,” Pippen wrote in his book. “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 championships together and three-peated twice while going undefeated in the NBA Finals during the ’90s. 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.”

Jordan messaged Pippen after The Last Dance doc came out on ESPN. 

MJ 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.'”

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. 

“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?”

Jordan and Pippen will never talk again, which is unfortunate considering they were amazing teammates on the Bulls.