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Scottie Pippen Once Revealed His Relief With Michael Jordan Retiring: “Michael, I Love You, But I’m Glad to See You Go”

Published 01/06/2022, 1:30 PM EST

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After weeks of tension, the one-sided spat between Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen seemed to calm down. However, new revelations have now emerged. Two of the Chicago Bulls’ biggest legends, Jordan and Pippen, were instrumental in setting the benchmark in the NBA. According to a Bulls insider, however, Scottie’s hatred for his iconic teammate began years ago, when MJ retired from the game. In all likelihood, his current frustration was a build-up of years of anger.

During their time together, Pippen and Jordan were practically unstoppable. Although Pippen was never really that close to Jordan, he always had enormous respect for what Jordan did for the sport. One of the best ever guard-forwards, Jordan became the franchise’s most prolific scorer. However, a star is only as good as his team, and ‘His Airness’ had a potent one. But in his memoir ‘Unguarded’, the 7-time All-star has destroyed Jordan. It all stemmed from ‘The Last Dance’ docu-series, where Pippen and many other stars felt undermined by Jordan. Did they ever like him?

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Bulls insider revealed Scottie Pippen’s shocking happiness after Michael Jordan retirement

There is no doubt that Michael Jordan was the main man at Chicago. The game revolved around him, and he was a key factor in their success. A 14-time All-star, the 58-year-old took the initiative to release a documentary about his legendary Bulls setup. However, this only backfired, as ‘Pip’ was not pleased about the series at all. Instead, he went on a series of rants about how Jordan was never as good as it came across. He even went to the extent of declaring that Michael ruined the sport. But is that all there is to know?

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The lesser-known fact is that many years ago in 1993, ‘His Airness’ retired from the sport. This was one of the multiple retirements, as the starlet lost interest in the sport. Now, with Pippen in charge, it was his moment to shine in the spotlight. And according to a key Bulls insider Melissa Isaacson, the 56-year-old was publicly expressive over his joy. “Michael, I love you, but I’m glad to see you go,” he reportedly said, according to her book Transition Game.

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via Imago

Surprisingly enough, Pippen was never happy playing second fiddle to Jordan. However, there is no doubt that MJ always respected Pippen, and lauded him for all his efforts. Will he ever answer Pippen’s criticisms of him? Let’s see.

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Written by:

Sankalp Harikrishnan

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Sankalp Harikrishnan is an NBA and Tennis writer at EssentiallySports. He aspires to pursue Sports Journalism and has represented his institution in cricket, badminton, soccer and table tennis. Sankalp idolises Roger Federer and Stephen Curry, and has an inherent love for statistics.
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