Charles Barkley does not know quite what has gotten into Scottie Pippen.
Appearing this week on “The Dan Patrick Show,” Barkley reacted to the recent slew of criticisms that Pippen has been airing out against former coaches and teammates, including Barkley himself.
“I’m disappointed in Scottie because he’s burning every bridge,” Barkley said. “I know he has a book coming out. Listen, Scottie was a very good player. I’ve always liked Scottie too. I’ve always liked him. I’ve never had a disagreement or an argument with him.
“But he’s taking shots at me, and I’m just laughing,” continued Barkley. “Because I’m like ‘Yo man, you do know we’re like 60 years old? We don’t have beefs any more. We’re like 60. What we accomplished was 30 years ago. It’s not important or significant. It was great in the day, but now it’s irrelevant.’ So I was disappointed he’s taking shots at Michael [Jordan], Phil Jackson, and myself. But I understand he’s got a book coming out. I just think it’s silly and stupid to be honest with you.”
Barkley was teammates with Pippen on both the 1992 “Dream Team” as well as on the 1999 Houston Rockets. Pippen recently called out Barkley for being a fake tough guy during their respective playing careers.
Pippen has also gone after Jordan and Jackson, his former co-star and head coach on the Chicago Bulls. Pippen was angry with Jordan over his portrayal in “The Last Dance” documentary. Not long after that, Pippen proceeded to blast Jackson as a racist.
As Barkley alluded to, Pippen has a new book plus a new bourbon line that he is looking to promote, so the timing of all this is hardly coincidental. But the promotion is clearly coming at the expense of Pippen’s relationships with his former NBA colleagues.
