Bill Cartwright explained why was Scottie Pippen better defender than Michael Jordan: 'Pip could guard the whole floor'

One of the reasons why the Chicago Bulls were a dynasty during the 90s was because they were an excellent defensive team. The Bulls defense was anchored on their dynamic duo of Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen.

MJ was a nine-time member of the NBA All-Defensive First team while Pippen was named to that team in eight consecutive seasons. But although it was only Mike who won the Defensive Player of the Year award, doing so in 1988, many believe that Pippen was overall the best defender on that team. Former Chicago center Bill Cartwright agreed.

"I think it was Pip because Pip could play more positions," Cartwright said. "He was taller. Both are pretty darn good. But Pip could guard the whole floor."

Pippen was a special athlete

Cartwright played six seasons for the Bulls and was a member of their first three-peat team. The 7'1" center appeared in 397 games as a Bull and was a starter with Jordan and Pippen in all but three of those games.

According to Cartwright, Pippen wasn't that good when he first joined the Bulls. However, Scottie worked hard every summer and got better and stronger. Not only did he develop a great offensive game over time but he also became an elite defender because of his length and athleticism.

"Pip was a great worker," Cartwright said. "When I first saw Pip in '88 and '89, he couldn't shoot. But what he was was a really special athlete. Extraordinary long. Great instincts. Probably became our best defender and offensively made his game better."

Byron Scott said Jordan rested on defense

What Cartwright was trying to say was perhaps explained better than former "Showtime" Lakers guard Byron Scott, who once compared MJ's defense to that of his ex-Lakers teammate Michael Cooper. 

According to Scott, Jordan wasn't an all-out defender and rested a lot on defense because he had to score on the other end. But he was a terrific net guy who picked up a lot of steals and blocks because he had great instincts.

"I think he's underrated on defense because he's a scorer," Scott said of MJ. "But I think he plays better team defense than individual defense--he gets a lot of his steals and blocked shots when he comes over and helps out when he's rotating."

While Jordan is one of the greatest defensive players of all time, his greatness was in coming up with defensive stats rather than locking down opponents and anchoring a team's defense. That was Pippen's job in Chicago, and MJ played off Scottie well on offense the way Pippen did off him on offense. Cartwright saw those first-hand.