Scottie Pippen once revealed what his relationship with former Chicago Bulls teammate Michael Jordan was really like.
Jordan and Pippen remain one of the most iconic duos in NBA history, alongside Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal, and Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
They won six championships together with the Bulls, including two separate three-peats (1991-93 and 1996-98).
Basketball fans would be forgiven for assuming that Jordan and Pippen were close, but that was never the case.
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Scottie Pippen explained why his relationship with Jordan never extended beyond basketball
Scottie Pippen explained in a January 2025 interview with Patrick Bet-David that he was never friends with Michael Jordan.
Although they had amazing chemistry on the court, Jordan and Pippen rarely spent time together away from basketball.
“Great teammate, but we were just never great friends,” Pippen said before revealing that they never even played golf together.
This is significant because Jordan famously played golf with several other NBA stars, including Charles Barkley and David Robinson.
Pippen also never had dinner with Jordan one-to-one and only ever went to his house to work out.
“I would train with Michael,” he added. “I guess the last three championships that we won, we trained together at his house, but other than that, we didn’t really put a lot of time in away from basketball.”
Jordan and Pippen’s distant relationship proves that players do not need to be friends to be successful teammates.
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