Michael Jordan Believes Whenever People Talk About Him, They Should Also Speak About Scottie Pippen: ‘I Didn’t Win Without Scottie’

NBA legend Michael Jordan believes whenever people talk about him, they should also speak about Scottie Pippen. 

Jordan and Pippen guided the Chicago Bulls to six NBA championships in the ’90s. The Bulls went 6-0 in the NBA Finals and three-peated twice. 

“I would never be able to find a tandem, another support system, another partner in the game of basketball like Scottie Pippen,” Jordan said in Episode 2 of The Last Dance. “He was a pleasure to play with. He helped me so much in the way that I approached the game, the way I played the game. Whenever they speak Michael Jordan, they should speak Scottie Pippen.

“Everybody says well I won all these championships, but I didn’t win without Scottie Pippen. And that’s why I consider him my best teammate of all time.”

Jordan didn’t win a postseason series until the Bulls acquired Pippen from the Seattle SuperSonics on draft night in 1987.

Chicago went 514-177 in the regular season and 117-51 in the playoffs when Jordan and Pippen were in the lineup.

The Bulls beat the Los Angeles Lakers, Portland Trail Blazers, Phoenix Suns, SuperSonics and Utah Jazz (twice) for their six championships during the Jordan-Pippen era. 

Chicago’s dynasty ended in the summer of 1998. Jordan retired from the NBA, while Pippen was traded to the Houston Rockets in a sign-and-trade deal. 

Jordan and Pippen are in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and on the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team. 

A 14-time All-Star, Jordan won five MVPs, six Finals MVPs, 10 scoring titles, three steals titles and one Defensive Player of the Year Award with the Bulls. He’s first in NBA history in points per game in the regular season and postseason. 

Meanwhile, Pippen made seven All-Star teams and 10 All-Defensive teams during his career. He won the 1994 All-Star Game MVP Award. 

In 1,072 NBA games with the Bulls and Washington Wizards, Jordan averaged 30.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 2.3 steals and 0.8 blocks. He made 11 All-NBA teams and nine All-Defensive teams. 

Pippen, who won the 1995 steals title, played in 1,178 NBA games with the Bulls, Rockets and Portland Trail Blazers. He averaged 16.1 points, 6.4 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 2.0 steals and 0.8 blocks.