Scottie Pippen Breaks Silence on Ring Culture Weeks After LeBron James’ Clear Stance

While the world was glued to Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals, Scottie Pippen was busy flexing his own flawless track record. He tweeted, “NBA Finals… Game 7? Never heard of it. 🏆😏” After all, Pippen and Jordan went a perfect 6-0 in the Finals, never needing a Game 7 to seal the deal. From the Lakers in ’91 to their sixth ring in ’98, every title run wrapped up in five or six games. And in today’s endless debates about “ring culture,” Pippen has made his stance pretty clear.

Scottie Pippen kept it simple with his latest post on X, captioning, “The shirt said it all…” while rocking a Bulls tee that read, “…don’t mean a thing without the ring.” The shirt also flashed Chicago’s legendary 72-10 record from the 1995-96 season, still one of the greatest runs in NBA history. That year, the Bulls, led by Michael Jordan, Pippen, and Dennis Rodman, dominated teams with an average winning margin of 12.3 points. And they finished the job, beating the Seattle SuperSonics 4-2 in the Finals to snag their fourth title. For Pippen, the message is clear—rings are the ultimate payoff for all the grind.

Scottie Pippen’s Finals record sits at 24-11, with all six of his championships coming alongside Michael Jordan. It’s true—he never won a ring without MJ. But that doesn’t take away from his greatness. When Michael Jordan retired in 1993, Scottie Pippen stepped up big time. In the 1993–94 season, he led the Bulls to a 55–27 record, averaging career highs in points (22.0), steals (2.9), and rebounds (8.7), and even earned All-Star MVP honors. The next season was tougher—without Jordan and with many new faces, the Bulls struggled to stay at .500, sitting at 34–31 before Jordan’s return. Still, Pippen kept winning, showing he could carry the team.

“I still get my six [championships],” Pippen believes. “Three, three, thought you knew. [Jordan] may be somewhere with LeBron [James]… I feel like I’m a get my six.” Sure, the Bulls fell to the Orlando Magic in the 1995 playoffs, but Jordan’s full-time return in 1995–96 sparked a historic 72–10 season and three straight titles through 1998. While it’s hard to prove he could’ve won six without MJ, that doesn’t take away from Pippen’s dominance. Over his career, he went 293–171 without Jordan, including 86–56 with the Bulls, showing he was a monster on the court.

The truth is, the NBA system never measured greatness by rings alone. That 75 GOAT list looked at how a player reshaped the game, their cultural impact, and how they defined their era. Gilbert Arenas wasn’t letting Scottie Pippen’s ring flex slide without some perspective. Pulling out the list, he said, “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 Scotty 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.”

And he had a point. According to ESPN, Iverson sits at 31 while Pippen follows at 32. Maybe that’s also what LeBron James was hinting at—the game doesn’t crown greatness based on titles alone. Interestingly, rings also played a key role for Jordan when choosing Kobe Bryant over LeBron in the GOAT debate. As MJ famously said in 2013, “Five beats one.”

LeBron James believes championships don’t define greatness

Back in July, LeBron James got real on his Mind the Game podcast with Steve Nash about how the NBA has become obsessed with championships. “I don’t know why it’s discussed so much in our sport and why it’s the end-all, be-all of everything,” he said. James called out legends like Allen Iverson, Charles Barkley, and his co-host, Steve Nash, saying they were “[expletive] unbelievable” but are sometimes overlooked because they didn’t win multiple rings. He even compared it to football, pointing out it’s crazy to discount Peyton Manning just because he has fewer rings than Tom Brady or Patrick Mahomes.

LeBron’s own career has been unfairly scrutinized for chasing titles. He’s won four NBA championships—two with Miami in 2012 and 2013, one with Cleveland in 2016, and one with the Lakers in 2020—but critics still frame his legacy around team-hopping.

Charles Barkley even blamed him for creating this “ring culture”: “I’m not sure how it got to the point where it became an individual thing instead of a team thing…Michael Jordan after four or five years, ‘You got to get out of here, you’re not going to win a championship,’ so things started going crazy with LeBron, and he started listening to all the rumors about you got to win to be successful.”

The whole ring debate got a shake-up recently when Carmelo Anthony was inducted into the Hall of Fame, even without winning a ring. Melo played 19 seasons, never reached the Finals, yet left an enormous mark. “I never got an NBA ring, and some will always define me by that, but I know what I gave to this game, and I know what this game gave back. Legacy isn’t always made in championships,” he said. Legends like Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, and Patrick Ewing also earned respect without a title. Still, stars like Damian Lillard and Chris Paul often get overlooked just because they don’t have rings.

Social media and TV personalities like Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith amplify this obsession, constantly ranking greatness by rings. Meanwhile, LeBron’s four titles and 10 Finals appearances are still scrutinized, and Kevin Durant’s two Warriors rings get discounted because he joined an already stacked team. The lesson? Championships are nice, but they don’t define your legacy.