Scottie Pippen takes swipe at Kyrie Irving while praising LeBron James

Scottie Pippen made some harsh comments this week while comparing Kevin Durant to LeBron James, and the Hall of Famer is not backing down.

In an interview with Yahoo’s Vincent Goodwill to promote Digits Bourbon, Pippen said Durant falls short. Pippen complimented Durant on the former MVP’s game, but said he falls short of surpassing James. He said Durant would need “a little bit more than an individual effort” to reach LeBron’s level. Stephen A. Smith was among those who defended Durant, and Pippen doubled down with a tweet on Friday.

Pippen said one of the big differences between LeBron and Durant is that James won a title “without any help.”

@stephenasmith @KingJames won a championship without any help

— Scottie Pippen (@ScottiePippen) June 25, 2021

That isn’t entirely accurate, of course. Pippen was referring to the championship LeBron won with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016. Kyrie Irving was also on that team, and he buried the most clutch shot of the series with his 3-pointer late in Game 7 of the NBA Finals.

Pippen is a huge LeBron supporter and has been for years. It’s no surprise he ranks him way ahead of Durant, though Durant obviously disagrees. The Brooklyn Nets star roasted Pippen this week in response to his comments.