ESPN’s 10-part documentary series, The Last Dance, gave sports fans a fascinating look into one of the great NBA dynasties with Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls.
But even for its undeniable entertainment value, the series did face its share of criticism — particularly in how Scottie Pippen was portrayed at times. In the second episode, Jordan called Pippen “selfish” for waiting until the start of the 1997-98 season to have surgery. Pippen was also portrayed as underpaid and soft at various points throughout the series.
And, apparently, Pippen let Jordan know that he wasn’t pleased about how the show portrayed him.
In an interview with The Guardian, Pippen said that he didn’t feel the series accurately told the story of his time with the Bulls. He felt that the show was more about propping up Jordan than actual storytelling.
Pippen said:
“I don’t think it was that accurate in terms of really defining what was accomplished in one of the greatest eras of basketball, but also by two of the greatest players – and one could even put that aside and say the greatest team of all time. I didn’t think those things stood out in the documentary. I thought it was more about Michael trying to uplift himself and to be glorified [the series was co-produced by Jordan’s Jump 23 company]. I think it also backfired to some degree in that people got a chance to see what kind of personality Michael had.”
He added that he didn’t shy away from voicing that concern to Jordan.
“Yeah. I told him I wasn’t too pleased with it. He accepted it. He said, “hey, you’re right”. That was pretty much it.”
At least according to Pippen, Jordan agreed with him. And it seems that Pippen was able to move on. He knows what they accomplished together, and a documentary doesn’t change that.
