'You're Not Michael Jordan': Former NBA Player Says Allen Iverson Is Respected More Than Scottie Pippen

LeBron James triggered a major debate across generations of NBA players and supporters with his comments about the ring culture in the league. Gilbert Arenas recently appeared on Dan Patrick's show and took James' side in this debate. He used a noteworthy example of Allen Iverson and Scottie Pippen to make his point.

“He's right, it was the same thing Michael Jordan said,” says Arenas, recalling what Jordan said about Bill Russell being similar to what James is trying to say now. 

“Obviously, there's more to just a ring than talent. You can be talented and not win a ring, you can be horrible and win a ring because you got a great cast around you.”

“The top 75 list that was put in, voted in, and then they voted in order, that lets you know rings doesn't necessarily matter because you have Scottie Pippen with six rings, six All-NBA or seven All-NBAs, seven All-Stars, 10 defensive awards but he's sitting at 32. 31 is Allen Iverson: no rings. So you're telling me six rings is getting beat out by what, four scoring titles and an MVP?"

“Then you got Chris Paul sitting at 29. Then you got Karl Malone, John Stockton, Charles Barkley not none of them got rings, but they're all in front of Scottie Pippen."

"Then at 75, you have Dame Lillard, right? Six All-Stars at the time, six All-NBAs, Klay Thompson doesn't make it in; he has three championships, five All-Stars, two All-NBAs, so his resume is not better with the ring. So it's showing you that rings don't matter, your individual talent matters first, then the rings kind of help you over the top. But the media has pushed rings as the cake instead of just the cherry on top."

“History says Allen Iverson he's going to be remembered more because his background says he was a top player in the NBA, he was an MVP, remember all MVPs, one, you're the best player, if you're a scoring champ, says you're top five. I don't know how many scoring champs in the NBA went to second team All-NBA, usually they're first team All-NBA."

“The average fan is going to say, ‘Yeah, I'm going to take the six rings, I'm going to be a champ.’ But we're looking at Scottie Pippen and we seen how Scottie Pippen has been treated. With six rings, he's not treated like Michael Jordan, right? So when you say my legacy, the legacy for you personally, yeah, six rings, but the legacy for everyone when you walk in public, are you respected? If you say Scottie Pippen and Allen Iverson, everybody runs to Allen Iverson because they remember he was iconic at what he did. I mean, as a basketball player, we're taught we want to be a champion. We get reality once our career's done and we're sitting there six rings trying to get you know these business deals done and everybody's like ‘Yeah, you're not Michael Jordan.’-- it's the sad truth.”

Is Gilbert Arenas Right? Do The People Value Allen Iverson More Than Pippen? 

Allen Iverson never averaged below 20 points per game in a season for the first 13 years of his career. His impact on the culture and presence in the league was highly driven by his talent as well as his vibrant personality. Meanwhile, Scottie Pippen was never a Top-5 player in the league when Jordan was on the team. From 1994 to 1996, when he made the All-NBA first teams, Jordan was retired for most of that period. 

Pippen and Iverson were not very smart about their money either. Pippen got tied down to a long-term contract with limited earnings, while players like Michael Jordan on his team earned over ten times the amount he did. Iverson was not very smart about how she spent his money; he earned over $200 million in his career through salaries and endorsements and spent it on cars and other luxuries almost as quickly as it came in. 

Pippen is currently valued at $20 million as per Celebrity Net Worth, while Iverson is valued at approximately $1 million. Yet, Iverson is still secure as he gets $800K every year for his needs from Reebok. Moreover, he has a $32 million trust fund waiting for him when he turns 55 in 2030. 

With his current position as the vice president of Reebok Basketball under Shaquille O'Neal, Iverson remains an iconic figure in the basketball world. Whereas, Pippen cannot be seen anywhere in major endorsements or business deals and likely earns most of his income through investments and revenue from old endorsements accrued to today.

Maybe Arenas is right? No disrespect to Pippen, but the business world seems to have more respect for Iverson than it does for Pippen.