For Pippen, MJ could’ve just omitted that part but he didn’t.

Scottie Pippen is not boasting about what he did in his infamous playoff meltdown in Game 3 of the Chicago Bulls’ Eastern Conference semifinals duel with the New York Knicks in 1994. Being well aware of the stigma of the incident, Pippen had no problems addressing it publicly. In fact, he even wrote an entire chapter in his memoir, “Unguarded,” answering questions about it.

However, what did not sit well with Pip was that Michael Jordan felt the need to delve deeper into it in “The Last Dance.” Pippen thought it didn’t make sense for MJ to criticize him over the incident as he wasn’t even part of the team at the time.

For Scottie, Jordan may or may not have realized that highlighting it in his documentary could change how hoops fans view him as an all-time great.

“Why then did Michael find it necessary to bring it up again? Did he consider for a moment how it might affect me and my legacy? Besides, he wasn’t on the team in 1994. He was playing baseball,” Pippen wrote in his book.

Pippen thought it was his big moment

In the NBA, big moments can define a player’s career. For Pippen, he thought his moment finally came in the most crucial part of that playoff game against New York in ’94. With only 1.8 seconds left on the clock and the score tied at 102, tension rose and with Jordan out of the picture, Pippen was ready to step up and take the last shot.

Pip knew how important making that shot was for the team and for his legacy. However, Bulls head coach Phil Jackson did not call him up for the assignment. Instead, “The Zen Master” designed a play for Toni Kukoc. Disappointed and enraged, Pippen refused to check back in against Jackson’s order.

On the other hand, Kukoc did not fail to deliver and drilled the game-winner, lifting the Bulls to a 104-102 victory. However, the decision made by Jackson took many by surprise, especially with Pippen being Chicago’s best player at the time.

Pippen and the Bulls moved on from it, but inevitably, fans deemed Scottie’s demeanor unprofessional, resulting in an unwanted backlash. Understandably, Pip wanted people to forget about it as much as possible, which explains why he was very upset when Jordan rekindled that incident in The Last Dance.

Many believe that Pippen plotted to hit back at MJ by releasing his book, “Unguarded,” which contains a series of unfiltered remarks about his former teammate. Whatever the real status is between the two iconic NBA legends, as fans, let’s just hope Pip and MJ could get it over with sooner rather than later.

As for Pippen’s unflattering playoff moment in 1994, it’s safe to say that it did not tarnish his legacy in any way.