"Michael Jordan was 1-9 in the playoffs before I joined the team" - Pippen said people ignore that MJ wasn't successful without him

“Michael Jordan was 1-9 in the playoffs before I joined the team” – Pippen said people ignore that MJ wasn’t successful without him originally appeared on Basketball Network.

Scottie Pippen never tried to take credit for Michael Jordan’s greatness. However, over time, Pip started to feel like too many people forgot the role he played in it.

As years went by and the stories of the Bulls’ dynasty became more polished, Pippen noticed how easily the spotlight stayed on one person. That started to wear on him, especially when the facts didn’t match the narrative.

“In our first year without him, the Bulls won 55 games and advanced to the second round of the playoffs,” Pippen wrote in his 2021 memoir “Unguarded.” “If not for a horrible call by a ref in the closing seconds in Game 5 against the New York Knicks, we might have won another championship.

“Michael Jordan was 1–9 in the playoffs before I joined the team. In the postseason he missed, the Bulls were 6–4,” he added.

For Pippen, those numbers weren’t meant to take anything away from what Jordan accomplished, but they were a reminder. Before the dynasty took shape and the cultural icon status, there was a stretch of early exits. Michael was brilliant from day one, but it took time before the Bulls started winning.

Scottie believed people forgot that part. Or simply wrote it off.

Never in the headlines

In his mind, the most significant difference between the two players wasn’t effort or toughness or commitment but perception. Jordan made highlight reels, but Pippen filled in the blanks. That part rarely got talked about, but he believed it made all the difference once the Bulls started contending.

“Everyone became so enamored of his acrobatic moves that they overlooked the intangibles that don’t show up in the box score or the highlights on SportsCenter: taking a charge, boxing out your man, setting a pick,” Pippen wrote. “The list is endless. I executed those fundamentals as well, if not better, than Michael did.”

Scottie knew the reality, even if most people didn’t see it that way. He understood why the public viewed Michael the way they did.

The numbers and personality were there. The shoe deals and the commercials were never far behind. Still, Pippen kept track of what was missing from the conversation. He didn’t need the attention, but he wasn’t going to pretend it never bothered him.

“Nonetheless,” he wrote, “he was the superstar in everyone’s mind, not Scottie Pippen. Never Scottie Pippen.”

Frustration built up over time

During their years as teammates, Pippen rarely spoke about any of this.

Pip played his role, took on the toughest assignments, and didn’t argue about who got the credit. But as the years passed and the stories got retold with less nuance, the weight of it started to land a little heavier.

Pippen didn’t try to rewrite history. He just wanted people to look at it without skipping the details. The wins didn’t happen by accident. The six titles weren’t carried by one person. And when Jordan left, the Bulls were still winning because the team around him had learned how to play and to handle pressure.

That didn’t just come from watching one guy. That came from doing it together.

There was a time when Scottie didn’t care what fans or media said about him. However, that changed once he saw how easily the story could shift. All he could do was tell his side.

Pippen played through injury, stayed patient and made sacrifices — large, meaningful sacrifices, in his eyes — to keep the roster intact. That may not have made him the face of the league, but it made him essential to what the Bulls became.

And in Scottie’s eyes, that shouldn’t be forgotten.

This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Aug 9, 2025, where it first appeared.

“Michael Jordan was 1-9 in the playoffs before I joined the team” – Pippen said people ignore that MJ wasn’t successful without him

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