Scottie Pippen Was "Livid" With Michael Jordan After 'The Last Dance,' Reports Say

From Good Housekeeping

Though the ESPN documentary The Last Dance primarily revolves around the life and career of the great Michael Jordan, the series also highlights other key players in the Chicago Bulls basketball dynasty — including the legendary forward Scottie Pippen.

It's clear from The Last Dance that Michael considers Scottie "his best teammate of all time" not to mention vital to the success of the Bulls throughout the '90s. That said, when the 10-part series came out on ESPN this past spring, it's reported that Scottie was "beyond livid" with how the show turned out.

According to what ESPN 1000's David Kaplan said in May, Scottie was "so angry at Michael and how he was portrayed, called selfish, called this, called that, that he's furious that he participated and did not realize what he was getting himself into."

What's more, ESPN's Jackie MacMullan reported that those close to Scottie said he felt "wounded and disappointed."

Why was Scottie Pippen upset with Michael Jordan and The Last Dance?

As those who have watched The Last Dance can remember, in episode two, Michael calls Scottie "selfish" for delaying his foot surgery and missing the first part of the 1997-98 basketball season. "Scottie was wrong in that scenario," Michael claimed.

At the time, Scottie was frustrated with Bulls management over his $18 million contract (which made him the 122nd highest-paid player in the league) and bitter about rumors that the team was considering trading him. Though Michael appeared to have strong feelings about Scottie's decision, then-coach Phil Jackson and former Bulls point guard Steve Kerr didn't seem to take a huge issue with it.

But that wasn't Scottie's only reported problem with the series. Scottie also allegedly didn't like the way he was portrayed in the 1998 NBA Finals matchup. "He felt like up until the last few minutes of Game 6 against the Jazz, it was just bash Scottie, bash Scottie, bash Scottie," the ESPN 1000 radio host claimed.

What's more the documentary spends a bit of time highlighting another not-so-flattering story about Scottie. In the final seconds of Game 3 of the 1994 Eastern Conference Semifinals, Scottie refused to go back in because he was frustrated that Toni Kukoc was given the final shot instead of him. Scottie later apologized to his teammates (though also made it clear that he "probably wouldn't change it" if he had the chance to do it over). Michael maintained that his teammate's decision would "always" come back to haunt him.

At this point, it remains unclear if the docuseries has caused a serious rift between the two players. Weeks after the final Last Dance episode aired on ESPN though, Scottie posted a photo of himself and Michael from M.J.'s "flu game" in the 1997 NBA Finals.

While some analysts think Scottie is trying to shade Michael with the post, it might just be a sign that the two have since reconciled.

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