Scottie Pippen Really Needs Friends In His Corner After Making Himself Look Foolish On 'The Dan Patrick Show'
This whole thing is sad to watch. Scottie Pippen is one of the all time great basketball players yet he has convinced himself that no else recognizes it. He played with Michael Jordan, he wasn't better than Michael Jordan, he is the gold standard Robin, and that very clearly still eats at his soul decades later. "The Last Dance" certainly didn't help his feelings in any sort of way and now he's got a book coming out telling "his side." And with a book coming out comes promotional tours on various talk shows like this where you say something inflammatory to get people to buy said book. Very ironic considering he took shots at another NBA book writer during this very interview, but I digress.
You know someone isn't doing well when they exclusively refer to themselves in the third person. "Scottie Pippen thinks Scottie Pippen should've taken that last shot." Alright dude. We fucking know who you are, pal. If you don't get your "George is getting upset" ass on out of here with that nonsense.
The part I struggled with the most is Scottie's recollection of Jordan's play call to get Steve Kerr a wide open shot with title number five on the line. Saying Jordan only said that for the cameras. "He wouldn't have passed that ball if Stockton didn't double him." Scottie, buddy... what are you talking about, pal? He quite literally saw what was coming and had a backup plan at the ready. Steve Kerr got the shot, hit it, fun times had by all. I do love the idea that Jordan was such a sociopath that he viewed this as a win-win move for him regardless of outcome. "Either I make the pass that wins us the game OR I get to punch my teammate in the face for fucking up the final shot, either way the cameras are gonna love this!"
The reason I titled this "Scottie Pippen needs friends" is because you typically don't see people down this bad with some sort of legitimate support system at their back. A friend who can tell you to shut that dumb shit up, stop making a fool of yourself, remind you that you are loved, pick you up when you're down. That person clearly does not exist in Pippen's corner at the moment and it's sad. He's got someone in his corner telling him the opposite, trying to latch on like a leach and profit off of this book, this bourbon, these hot takes, someone cunning and insidious who doesn't care about the aftermath of what this human being is going to look like on the other side.
While watching this clip I couldn't stop thinking about Kendrick Perkins call Giannis "Robin" after Khris Middleton went off last night. It's often a really stupid argument, one people take far too seriously that ends up meaning absolutely nothing in the long run. Except when you then watch the most famous "Robin" in basketball history snidely ask Dan Patrick if he speaks English. That's 30+ years of torment, wondering if anyone sees you as "the guy." Scottie, you're not that guy, pal. Trust me, you're not that guy. And that's ok. Michael was that guy. You were the other guy, and no one has ever been better at being that other guy. People continue to use Robin as an insult and then turn around and kill guys for not winning titles on their own. It's almost as if you've always, ALWAYS, needed multiple really good players on a basketball team to win a Championship. It's almost as if you need two top-25 players of all time to so something special like win six titles in eight years.
The psychology of Scottie Pippen is a fascinating case of hubris, greed and jealousy. A man who has so many accolades, so much recognition, more Championship rings than he can wear on a single hand simultaneously, and none of it is enough. Kevin Durant has spoken openly about how we, as fans, don't know what motivates him. Perhaps he's at peace with his historical place in the game. Maybe he learned not to care at all. Maybe the 24-hour hot take cycle that sports talk has devolved into has actually makes it easier to disassociate and not care at all what anyone has to say. I don't have the answers because I don't know these people personally, I can only go off of what they decide to give us. And what Scottie's giving us is someone who is overcompensating, demanding to be viewed as someone we all know he wasn't. If he could understand that the person he was wasn't a negative, was still great in his own way, maybe then he could find some comfort in his own mind.
