NBA legend Charles Barkley told NFL icon Shannon Sharpe that it’s a “sad situation” Chicago Bulls greats Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen will never be friends again.
Pippen took several shots at Jordan after The Last Dance documentary came out. Jordan’s son also dated Pippen’s ex-wife.
Jordan and Pippen are arguably the greatest duo in NBA history. The Bulls went 6-0 in the NBA Finals and three-peated twice during the Jordan-Pippen era.
Most people assumed that Jordan and Pippen were close friends when they were teammates. However, Pippen wrote in his book that he and Jordan have never been close.
“Michael and I aren’t close and never have been,” Pippen wrote. “Whenever I call or text him, he usually gets back to me in a timely fashion, but I don’t check in just to see how he’s doing. Nor does he do the same. Many people might find that hard to believe given how smoothly we connected on the court.
“Away from the court, we are two very different people who have led two very different lives. I was from the country: Hamburg, Arkansas, population about 3,000; he was from the city: Wilmington, North Carolina.”
In the summer of 1993, Jordan’s father was murdered. Pippen, whose father died three years before Jordan’s dad passed away, never offered Jordan condolences.
Jordan and Pippen are no longer on speaking terms, according to ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, who is friends with Jordan.
“His father passed away after the first three-peat,” Smith said. “So you had year one without Michael Jordan, year two. You had the three years you were with him for the second three-peat to express your condolences. You never did it. Michael Jordan never even thought about that until he saw it, and then he realized, ‘Wait a minute, you didn’t give me condolences on purpose. I didn’t even think about this.’ He’s (Pippen) crossed the line. Him and Jordan, it’s over. Take it from me. It’s over.”
Here’s what Pippen wrote in his book that made Jordan furious:
“Another opportunity, if you can call it that, came during the summer of 1993, and I feel horrible every time I think about it,” Pippen wrote. “Michael’s father, James Jordan, had been murdered. The two were inseparable. When I heard the news, I should have reached out to Michael right away. Instead, I went through the Bulls’ PR department, and once they told me no one from the organization had been in contact with him, I gave up. Having lost my own dad three years before, I might have been able to offer Michael some comfort. To this day, he and I haven’t spoken about his father’s death.”
