“He should be holding his head up higher than Michael Jordan” – Dennis Rodman sides with Scottie Pippen over his negative portrayal in ‘The Last Dance’ originally appeared on Basketball Network.
The most vocal criticism of “The Last Dance” came from Scottie Pippen. The documentary, which reigned as one of Netflix’s most watched sports series globally in 2020, gave the world an intimate look into the dominance of the 1990s Chicago Bulls, especially the aura of Michael Jordan.
But for all its adrenaline and storytelling polish, it also reopened old wounds, none deeper than those of Pippen, who was depicted as a second fiddle that occasionally folded under pressure.
Rodman’s support
Former Bulls star Dennis Rodman, never one to mince words, made it plain where he stands and it’s not on the side of The Last Dance.
“Scottie was so underrated — and so underpaid,” Rodman said. “He should be holding his head up higher than Michael Jordan in this documentary. I think a lot of people are now realising what he went through. The kid was a hero, in a lot of ways, during those great Bulls runs.”
For those who watched the dynasty unfold in real time, Pippen’s sacrifices, both physical and emotional, were the glue that held it all together. He wasn’t just the wingman. He was often the shield and the one who stepped in while Jordan took his midseason sabbaticals or walked away from the game altogether.
Pippen’s disappointment with the documentary has always been layered. He wasn’t pleased with how he was portrayed and there’s a good reason.
The 10-part series dedicated considerable time to dissecting some of his most criticized moments, like when he refused to check in during Game 3 of the 1994 Eastern Conference semifinals after Phil Jackson designed the final shot for Toni Kukoc, or delaying ankle surgery during the 1997 offseason as a form of contract protest and missing key games in the final Bulls run.
But what The Last Dance showed in slow motion, it rarely contextualized with empathy. Pippen had been playing with a ruptured back during the 1998 NBA Finals. He’d spent much of his prime locked in a seven-year, $18 million contract, one of the league’s worst deals considering his All-NBA and All-Defensive Team credentials. In 1997 alone, 122 players made more money than Pippen, including several benchwarmers and fringe starters. And yet, he finished third in MVP voting that year.
Resentment brewed in silence
Rodman knows the cost of that kind of thanklessness. While Jordan was the brand and the beast, and Rodman the rebel with the rebounding records, Pippen was the strategic brain of the operation. A two-way phenom who guarded Magic Johnson, shut down wings, initiated offense and played through pain without the spoils.
The tension that brewed for years finally bubbled over in Pippen’s 2021 memoir “Unguarded”, where he accused Jordan of prioritizing his image over team legacy. The friction wasn’t new. Back in 1994, when Pippen led the Bulls without Jordan and took them to 55 wins, many began to see just how much of the team’s success had rested on Pippen’s versatility. But the credit rarely followed.
The documentary’s focus on Jordan’s ultra-competitive fire and dominance made for compelling drama, but it often flattened the complexity of teammates like Pippen into side characters.
Jordan, who had editorial control over the series, came out as the hardened hero. Rodman, for all his antics, was shown as dependable when it mattered. But Pippen’s story was framed by hesitation, discontent and betrayal.
Rodman pushing back on that narrative is strong. The two men, cut from wildly different cloths, shared the court during the Bulls’ second three-peat and often relied on each other defensively. Rodman’s 11.3 rebounds per game in the 1997-98 season were vital, but so was Pippen’s stat-stuffing presence, averaging 19.1 points, 5.2 assists and 1.8 steals per game that same year — all while dealing with a volatile contract dispute and mounting injuries.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jul 6, 2025, where it first appeared.