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Scottie Pippen Reveals the Biggest Weakness of Michael Jordan Compared to Kobe Bryant

Published 05/01/2020, 11:30 AM EDT

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While it is clear that Michael Jordan is one of the greatest to ever step foot into a basketball court, there are a few others who can come close to touching his greatness. Kobe Bryant is certainly one among them. The mamba played for 20-years in purple and gold and won five championships with the Los Angeles Lakers.

While MJ has one more ring compared to Kobe, there is no doubt that these two made people enjoy the game. Jordan had Scottie Pippen alongside him during the course of the Bulls’ domination in the NBA. Though Kobe and Shaq were a devastating duo, their differences tore them apart. 

Scottie Pippen was the perfect partner Jordan could have ever asked for. He was the Robin to Jordan’s Batman. Their combination was exemplary. However, Pippen after playing alongside ‘His Airness’ for about 11 years, had some doubt in his shooting skills.

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Scottie thinks there is no way Michael Jordan could have outshot Kobe Bryant

NBA Legends, Scottie Pippen and Tracy McGrady made an appearance on ESPN’s ‘The Jump,’ about three years ago. The main topic of discussion revolved around Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan

At one point Scottie said, “There’s no way MJ could outshoot Kobe.” This made people go crazy. McGrady was blown out of his mind. He never thought these words would come out of someone’s mouth. Given the fact that Pippen and MJ played together for so many years, this was out of the blue.

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McGrady went against his comment and said how Kobe shoots more from outside the arc, while Michael Jordan mixed it up inside the two-point zone. Pippen was not convinced and further said, “Kobe thrills me like Steph Curry thrills people in today’s game.” 

Scottie further went and explained how Kobe was a better outside shooter than MJ to which McGrady nodded his approval. Jordan was more multi-dimensional whereas his protege was more of a shooter. 

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When the show’s producers decided to put up a stat card to serve as evidence to Scottie’s statement, one could see a significant difference pertaining to the 3-point shooting factor. Looking at their overall career stats, the Jumpman led Kobe in the 2-point Field Goal Percentage. MJ’s 51% won the race against the 48% accuracy of Kobe. 

While their 3-point accuracy locked horns at 33%, the number of shots attempted by Kobe seemed overwhelming. He attempted 5,546 three’s in his career which is three times more than Jordan’s 1,778. However, this reflects on how Jordan mixed things up and played his game. His unpredictability bamboozled defenders, making him the best at his game. 

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Written by:

Arjun Athreya

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Arjun Athreya is a senior writer at Essentially Sports and has been contributing since early 2020. Having developed an avid interest in sports at an early age, he pursued a Journalism degree and graduated from Madras Christian College. Arjun manages the Golf division and its content, and primarily covers news pertaining to the NBA as well.
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