"This is not the same Scottie from his Bulls days - Toni Kukoc on what went wrong with Pippen and Jordan and why MJ still likes Pip

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Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen are quite possibly the best duo in NBA history. Together, they led the Chicago Bulls to six NBA championships during the 90s decade, winning via a pair of three-peats.

Although they were never the best of friends, they shared a bond—at least a friendship and mutual respect. However, as the years passed since they conquered the NBA courts, their relationship dissipated.

According to former Bulls forward Toni Kukoc, he is saddened by what happened to Pippen and Jordan’s relationship but says that despite everything, MJ’s feelings towards Pip haven’t changed.

“I haven’t seen him (Scottie) for a while,” said Kukoc in a recent interview with Sport Klub. “I’m sad about the relationship between him and Michael; I talk to Michael — he still loves and appreciates him (Pippen) and always says he never would’ve been able to do the things that he’s done without him. It’s sad. It’s hard for me to see him in this state; he changes his mind on Michael and LeBron.”

Things exploded after ‘The Last Dance’

Long before their current rift, there were already chinks in the relationship between Jordan and Pippen. Scottie always felt he was a much better basketball player but could not show it because he played in Michael’s shadow. Still, the tremendous amount of success that they achieved seemed to have covered whatever differences they had.

But things exploded after ESPN’s ‘The Last Dance’ documentary when Pippen felt slighted by how things were portrayed. He released his own memoir, ‘Unguarded,’ in which he tried to get back at MJ and hurl further accusations at his former teammate.

A few years have passed since ‘The Last Dance’ and ‘Unguarded,’ and Scottie continues to bark at Michael. In February, Pippen launched the ‘No Bull’ tour to add another venue to speak his mind.

Despite all of this, Jordan has never spoken against Scottie. Here and there, we’ve heard stories saying Mike felt hurt or betrayed by what Pip has told over the last couple of years, but he’s never attacked him in the same manner. Instead, as Kukoc said, he’s always maintained that Pippen was his best teammate ever and that he wouldn’t have accomplished everything without him.

No longer the old Scottie

Meanwhile, Pippen’s anger has spilled over from Mike. In 2021, Scottie called former Bulls head coach Phil Jackson a racist on ‘The Dan Patrick Show’ because of a 1994 incident in which the ‘Zen Master’ chose to run a game-winning play for Kukoc instead of him.

According to Toni, that wasn’t the Scottie he used to play with.

“I mean to say Phil was a racist because he wanted me to take the shot is — that’s not the old Scottie who didn’t have any issues passing the ball. Michael is the GOAT, but if you play basketball, Scottie is the best teammate you can have,” added Kukoc.

‘The Croatian Sensation’ didn’t expand on what he thinks is going on with Pippen right now. But just like Jordan, Kukoc praised Scottie and proclaimed that Pip was the best teammate that he ever had.