Mike Greenberg 'genuinely sad' following Scottie Pippen controversial commentary on Michael Jordan

On3 imageby:Nick Geddes05/28/23

NickGeddesNews

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(VINCENT LAFORET/AFP via Getty Images)

Scottie Pippen caught the attention of the NBA community when he said Friday that Michael Jordan was a “horrible” player prior to Pippen’s arrival to the Chicago Bulls in 1987.

“I’ve seen Michael Jordan before I came to play with the Bulls,” Pippen said. “You guys have seen him play. He was a horrible player. He was horrible to play with. He was all one-on-one. He’s shooting bad shots. And all of a sudden, we become a team and we start winning. Everybody forgot who he was.”

Pippen not only left many who think fondly of the Bulls’ dynasty puzzled, but left ESPN “Get Up” host Mike Greenberg “genuinely sad.” Greenberg took to Twitter to share his thoughts on Pippen’s take.

“Watching this makes me genuinely sad,” Greenberg tweeted. “Scottie brought so much joy to so many people. The fact that it all left him with such bitterness is a terrible shame.”

In addition to scorching his former teammate, in which he won six NBA championships with, Pippen offered a take on the never-ending Jordan-LeBron James debate. Though Pippen declined to go all-in on an undisputed G.O.A.T., he called the Los Angeles Lakers forward the “greatest statistical guy to ever play the game of basketball.”

“LeBron will be the greatest statistical guy to ever play the game of basketball. There’s no comparison to him. None,” Pippen said. “So, does that make him the greatest player ever to play the game? I’ll leave that up for debating.”

Scottie Pippen gives his take on G.O.A.T. debate

Pippen certainly isn’t off with that assessment, as during the 2022-23 regular season, James surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the NBA’s all-time leading scorer. Jordan, meanwhile, has often been viewed as the greatest combination of personal achievements and team success. He racked up five MVP awards, led the league in scoring 10 times and earned nine All-Defensive team recognitions all while going a perfect 6-0 in the NBA Finals.

Of note, Jordan and the Bulls never made it to the NBA Finals without Pippen, who was no slouch himself on the basketball court. He appeared in seven All-Star games and is a member of the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team.