Scottie Pippen’s Memoir Reportedly Takes Jabs at Michael Jordan

The forthcoming book refers to Pippen as "the real leader within the Bulls locker room"

Scottie Pippen and Michael Jordan
Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen of the Chicago Bulls.
AFP via Getty Images

Chicago Bulls legend Scottie Pippen has announced a new tell-all memoir due this fall, promising “stories I’ve kept to myself for years.” And if the book’s description is to be believed, it may also include a few digs at his former teammate Michael Jordan.

“Simply put, without Pippen, there are no championship banners — let alone six — hanging from the United Center rafters. There’s no The Last Dance documentary,” the description reads. “There’s no ‘Michael Jordan’ as we know him. The 1990s Chicago Bulls teams would not exist as we know them.”

The book, called UNGUARDED, is slated to be released by Simon & Schuster on November 16, and in addition to those ’90s Bulls dynasties, it’ll reportedly chronicle his early life in Arkansas and his college days at the University of Central Arkansas. But the description also promises plenty of juicy details about his years sharing the court with Jordan and how he really felt about his superstar teammate.

“Pippen details how he cringed at being labeled Jordan’s sidekick, and discusses how he could have (and should have) received more respect from the Bulls’ management and the media,” it notes. “He discusses what it was like dealing with Jordan on a day-to-day basis, while serving as the real leader within the Bulls locker room.”

Pippen was reportedly upset with the way he was portrayed in the ESPN’s Jordan docuseries The Last Dance last year, telling the Guardian last December, ” I thought it was more about Michael trying to uplift himself and to be glorified. I think it also backfired to some degree in that people got a chance to see what kind of personality Michael had … I told him I wasn’t too pleased with it. He accepted it. He said, ‘Hey, you’re right.’ That was pretty much it.”

The InsideHook Newsletter.

News, advice and insights for the most interesting person in the room.