Scottie Pippen is going all out to sell this book.
The book is less about Pippen and more about how much he hates Michael Jordan. One could say it borders on obsession and jealousy.
It is sad because a book fleshing out Scottie Pippen, the person, seeing that he was always seen as a sidekick, would have been an interesting piece of reading, but we have to be honest, that wouldn’t have sold as many copies as saying things like Kobe idolized him over Jordan.
That is what Pip said in his now infamous GQ interview.
“The one teammate that I wish I could’ve played with and I didn’t play with was Kobe Bryant,” said Pippen during his GQ interview. However, he also revealed that Bryant often came to him to better his game. He stated, “Kobe really idolized the way I played the game, the way that I defended, and you know, a lot of it, he started to call me after I retired and to ask questions about different situations.”
“How you would guard certain people? What kind of footwork would you do this? What would you do in this situation? Just picking your brain to enhance his ability out on the basketball court. You know, he was a great student of the game, and you know, he would ask me questions about how would I guard Michael in this situation, this and that. And just, you know, just trying to improve his craft.”
I am sure Kobe did hit Pippen up because Kobe was always looking for an edge, but there is a reason why Jordan spoke at his funeral and was at his induction into the Hall of Fame.
I hope Pip is happy because these seem like rumblings of an unhappy man.
Flip the pages for his full interview with GQ and other interviews of him taking shots at Jordan.