Scottie Pippen surprised a lot of people this week when he said he believes Phil Jackson’s decision to give Toni Kukoc the final shot in a playoff game over Pippen was racially motivated. On Monday, the Hall of Famer reiterated his stance.
Pippen infamously refused to go in with less than 2 seconds remaining in a 1994 Chicago Bulls playoff game. He was angry that Jackson designed a play that gave Kukoc, a rookie, the last shot rather than Pippen. Pippen told GQ Magazine recently that he felt it was a “racial move” for Jackson.
Pippen was asked to elaborate during an appearance on “The Dan Patrick Show” on Monday. He spoke at length about all he had done for the Bulls while taking a back seat to Michael Jordan. Patrick eventually pressed him and asked if he believes Jackson is a racist, and Pippen said “uh, yeah.”
“Do you remember Phil Jackson left the Lakers and went and wrote a book on Kobe Bryant and then came back and coached him?” Pippen asked. “Who would do that? You name someone in professional sports that would do that. I think he tried to expose Kobe in a way that he shouldn’t have.”
Patrick said the things Pippen described would make Jackson “disloyal” rather than a racist. Pippen disagreed.
“That’s your way of putting it out, and I have my way,” Pippen said. “I was in the locker room with him and I was in practices with him. You’re looking from afar.”
Pippen eventually became annoyed with the line of questioning from Patrick. You can hear the remarks below. The relevant portion starts at around the 1:35 mark:
DP: ".. By saying it was a racial move then you're calling Phil Jackson a racist…"
Pippen: "I don't have a problem with that."
DP: "Do you think Phil was?"
Pippen: "Oh yeah…"
Exchange with @ScottiePippen on Phil's decision to have Kukoc take final shot against the Knicks pic.twitter.com/pH2aDLMDcQ
— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) June 28, 2021
Pippen did not come across well in the interview. He’s the one who decided to publicly call Jackson a racist without providing any real evidence to support the claim. He then did the same during the interview with Patrick. Every time Patrick tried to give him an opportunity to tell his story and explain why he thinks Jackson is racist, Pippen became irritated and defensive.
If you remember, Pippen was livid with the way he was portrayed in “The Last Dance” documentary last year. He clearly has a lot of bitterness toward both Jackson and Jordan, but he needs to share more details if he’s going to accuse Jackson of being racist.
