Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen will be forever joined at the hip, and according to this story from Tracy McGrady — it was MJ who made sure of that.
McGrady — while appearing on ESPN’s “The Jump,” — told the story of Jordan nixing a 1997 draft night deal that would have sent Pippen to Toronto and McGrady to play sidekick with his Airness.
Tracy McGrady just said on The Jump that he was almost traded on draft night to the Bulls for Scottie Pippen, but MJ axed the deal. WOW
— Kristian Winfield (@Krisplashed) June 23, 2016
The Bulls were coming off a second straight championship, and MJ made the decision to have Scottie around for one last season — rather than allow the Bulls to start over fresh.
McGrady entered the NBA straight out of high school after being selected in the 1997 NBA draft with the ninth overall pick in the first round by the Raptors.
Flip The Page to hear McGrady break down how close he was to being teammates with Mike.