Scottie Pippen believes Phil Jackson isn’t the great guy some claim him to be.
Scottie Pippen has been making waves over the last week or so thanks to some massive hot takes about the NBA and his playing career. For example, Pippen was recently interviewed for GQ and in the story, Pippen came out and accused Phil Jackson of giving Toni Kukoc the final shot in a playoff game because he was white. Many fans were confused by this story as it seemed like a bit of a stretch. Now, however, Pippen is doubling down on his racial accusations.
During an interview with Dan Patrick, Pippen spoke about the Kukoc play and how it made him feel. Patrick noted that Pippen made it seem like Jackson is a racist, which is an assertion Pippen said he agreed with. In fact, Pippen noted that he has no problems at all calling Jackson a racist.
“I don’t think it’s a mystery, you need to read between the fine lines. It was my first year playing without Michael Jordan, why wouldn’t I be taking that last shot?” Pippen said in a previous interview. “I been through all the ups and downs, the battles with the Pistons and now you gonna insult me and tell me to take it out? I thought it was a pretty low blow. I felt like it was an opportunity to give [Kukoc] a rise. It was a racial move to give him a rise. After all I’ve been through with this organization, now you’re gonna tell me to take the ball out and throw it to Toni Kukoc? You’re insulting me. That’s how I felt.”
Many fans have been digging up old comments in which Jackson said some questionable remarks, which are now being used as a way to confirm Pippen’s allegations. For instance, Jackson once said “The players have been dressing in prison garb the last five or six years. All the stuff that goes on, it’s like gangster, thuggery stuff.” He also referred to LeBron’s inner circle as his “posse” which certainly had some racial overtones to it.
Needless to say, Pippen is making people re-think Jackson’s legacy, which is something not many people saw coming.
