In his book, “Unguarded,” NBA legend Scottie Pippen detailed what happened during Game 3 of the 1994 Eastern Conference Semifinals against the New York Knicks when he sat out the final 1.8 seconds.
Chicago Bulls head coach Phil Jackson called the game-winning shot for Toni Kukoc and Pippen was furious.
“I was furious and let Phil know it. ‘Just do what I said,’ he barked. ‘F**k you!,’ I told him,” Pippen wrote. “After I chose not to go back on the floor for those final 1.8 seconds, Bill Cartwright and Johnny Bach urged me to change my mind. No chance. Phil put Pete Myers in to make the entry pass.
“The rest, as they say, is history. Toni hit an 18-footer over Anthony Mason. Bulls, 104; Knicks, 102.”
In the postgame locker room, Cartwright cried as he called Pippen out for his actions. Pippen apologized to his teammates for letting them down, but he was still angry at Jackson.
“There was one person I was angry with: Phil Jackson,” Pippen wrote. “Michael Jordan was gone. This was my team now, my chance to be the hero, and Phil was giving that chance to Toni Kukoc? Are you serious? Toni was a rookie with no rings. I was in my seventh year with three rings. And, by the way, in the MVP race that season.
“The most humiliating part was Phil telling me I would throw the ball in bounds. At least when you’re on the floor, you can be a decoy. The Knicks would have put two defenders on me. Someone would have gotten a good look.
“By not going back in the game, I did the right thing not just for myself and my pride. Also for the players who would come after me. Who, one day, might very well find themselves in the same position.
“Phil and I spoke about the matter the next day. He said something about me being the best passer on the team and referred to the three game-winning shots Toni hit during the regular season. Nothing he said changed my mind. ‘Are you telling me that, if Michael was playing, you would have had him take the ball out because Toni hit those shots?’ I asked.
“I don’t recall how he responded. All I recall is that I was done with Phil Jackson. … Our relationship would never be the same no matter what triumphs would lie ahead. The moment of truth had come, and he had abandoned me. What would stop him from abandoning me again the next time?”
The Bulls lost to the Knicks in seven games. Jordan returned to the NBA near the end of the 1994-95 season and Chicago became lethal again.
Behind Pippen and Jordan, the Bulls won the 1996 NBA Finals against the Seattle SuperSonics and the 1997 and 1998 NBA Finals versus the Utah Jazz.
Jordan and Pippen went 6-0 in the NBA Finals and three-peated twice.
Jackson won six titles with the Bulls and five rings with the Los Angeles Lakers. Jordan, Pippen and Jackson are in the Hall of Fame.
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