The co-author of Scottie Pippen’s book “Unguarded,” Michael Arkush, has a lot to say about the book, and according to him, Scottie Pippen wasn’t Bulls’ best player.
The Bulls swung a draft-day deal to get Pippen’s rights from the Seattle SuperSonics. Acquiring Pippen was a key piece of what would be a dynasty. The dynasty was unquestionably led by Michael Jordan, though.
That’s a point Pippen seems willing to concede. However, for all his greatness as a player, Jordan was demanding of teammates. Often that crossed the line into abuse. Many of Pippen’s comments in his book regarding Jordan’s documentary revolved around one key issue.
Pippen felt His Airness dismissed the contributions of his teammates. Worse, Pippen believed Jordan was dismissive of his role in the rise of the Bulls dynasty.
On ‘Unguarded’ becoming a hit piece against Michael Jordan, Michael Arkush said:
“It certainly brought a whole new narrative to what we were talking about. He really cherished his role as a facilitator for the offense and an anchor for the defense, and he really loved being in that position and being a part of the whole team.
“He really felt he wanted to get across the idea of team basketball. And then when he saw The Last Dance, he saw ways in which he felt he should have been better represented.”
According to Michael Arkush, “Pippen is comfortable with who he is, where he came from, and what he accomplished. But his comments about Michael Jordan are the only takeaway people are getting from his book.”
“I think he has great appreciation for the journey he took and how difficult it was,” Arkush said. “I think he really wanted people to understand that and to inspire other people that their dreams are possible if they believe in themselves and put in the work. That’s a big part of what he wanted to get across.”
If we are being honest, no one was going to buy a book about just Scottie Pippen, so he should be thanking Jordan once again because the book will be a best seller not because of Pip but because of Jordan.
Flip the page for Pip being upset at Jordan.
