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Scottie Pippen’s surprise Michael Jordan admission on Aussie TV goes viral

Scottie Pippen’s surprise Michael Jordan admission on Aussie TV goes viral

Comments made by Scottie Pippen on Australian TV are going viral in the United States after the NBA legend’s latest claim about his former teammate Michael Jordan.

Pippen’s spiteful comments about his broken relationship with the five-time NBA most valuable player have created headlines around the world it recent years, but it is a strangely friendly comment that is now making his recent interview with Aussie breakfast TV host Karl Stefanovic spread across the internet.

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The six-time NBA championship winner’s interview on The Today Show this week has blown up because the 58-year-old appears to have changed his tune on what he thinks about his megastar teammate.

Scottie Pippen on Today. Photo: Twitter, @TheTodayShow.Source: Twitter

When asked about Jordan’s claim to be considered the greatest basketballer of all time, Pippen responded: “Oh for sure. I mean, you look at the MVPs that he was able to achieve.

“But I think it was all brought from us being successful as a team. Obviously someone is going to bring those accolades home, but yeah, he was the greatest player, definitely in basketball.”

Those comments are very different from ones previously made by Pippen after he last year called LeBron James the greatest of all time.

Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen of the Chicago Bulls. Photo by VINCENT LAFORET / AFP.Source: AFP

James this year passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to become the leading point scorer in the history of the NBA.

Pippen has repeatedly changed his tune on the subject, but has never shifted away from the fact basketball is a team game that doesn’t revolve around individual players.

“I saw Jordan play before I came to play with the Bulls,” Pippen said on Stacey King’s Gimme The Hot Sauce podcast.

“You guys saw him play. He was a horrible player. He was horrible to play with. He was all one-on-one, he’s shooting bad shots, and all of a sudden we become a team and we start winning and everybody forgot who he was.”

One version of his interview with Stefanovic and Channel 9 presenter Sarah Abo has more than 400,000 views because of this backflip.

Pippen’s relationship with Jordan soured following the release of the hugely popular Last Dance documentary, with Pippen reportedly furious at the way he was portrayed.

Perhaps the Chanel 9 duo didn’t realise it was such an awkward subject when they brought it up.

When asked about the documentary, Pippen responded: “I thought it was special. I thought it was a special moment for us to really relive some of the greatest times in basketball history.

“And more so having the opportunity to see what team basketball was like. And I think during the pandemic, everyone sitting home, it was more like an education tool to let people see how great the game can be if it’s played the right way.

“And if they’re sharing of the basketball, there’s unlimited things that you can achieve in a game of basketball. And we were able to win six titles over a decade and that’s pretty high accomplishment.”

Stefanovic noted at the end of the interview that he had never seen Abo sit so far forward in her chair before and the co-host happily admitted she was beyond excited to see the NBA legend in the flesh.