The Chicago Bulls dynasty remains to be one of the most iconic in the NBA. While the entire team had a role to play, the duo of Scottie Pippen and Michael Jordan ruled the ranks. As the two best players on the team, their contributions helped lift the Bulls to new heights. Winning six championships together, they successfully established themselves as one of the best duos in history. However, since hanging up the boots, the true nature of their relationship has come to the surface. While many believe Jordan needed Pippen to win, MJ’s best friend, Charles Oakley, believes otherwise.

Pippen and Jordan were like Batman and Robin on the court. They became the spearheads of the Bulls dynasty and won six championships together in eight years. However, their relationship outside the court came to the surface recently. Pippen was upset after the ‘Last Dance’ docuseries. He felt it was more about Jordan rather than the whole team. In addition, he also publically disrespected MJ on a number of occasions.

While on a segment of Club Shay Shay, Knicks legend, Charles Oakley broke down the entire saga between Jordan and Pippen.

Michael Jordan would still be a champion without Pippen?

As one of the greatest one-two punches in the league, both Jordan and Pippen needed one another on the court. Without being together, they never could win anything by themselves. However, it seems former Bulls forward, Charles Oakley has a different thought process. He believes Michael Jordan could have won all his rings even if Pippen was out of the equation.

He said: “They didn’t give him a lot of headlines like they did Dennis Rodman or Kerr. But I think Mike could have won without Scottie, he had said that many a times. But I think Scottie, whatever you say you got to live with it and. Some things he said and you know some things he did like, when he didn’t want to go back in the game, he got hurt and didn’t take that summer to try to recover with the surgery, he waited to the season start.”

It is unimaginable to see Jordan in a Bulls uniform without Pippen right by his side. However, to say he could have won without Pippen may be more unreal. Pippen was the true general for the Bulls. He was a 10-time All-Defensive team member and helped Jordan out a lot. In fact, his game allowed Jordan in focusing on one primary job of scoring. Pippen took the rest of the responsibility on himself which gave MJ his freedom on the offensive end. While giving the team 19 points per game, Pippen led the way in defensive stats and rebounds in the six finals series.

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While their off-court relationship may not be the best, nothing takes away from what they achieved together. Jordan himself admitted he won’t be a champion if it wasn’t for Scottie Pippen. No matter how ferocious Michael was, even he needed someone to take care of the other things, and Pippen filled that role to perfection. Hence, both players were key to each other’s success in the NBA.