Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen both skipped the Chicago Bulls’ inaugural “Ring of Honor” ceremony due to the team legends’ feud and the ongoing romance between the former’s son, Marcus, and the latter’s ex-wife, Larsa.
The two six-time NBA champions have both informed the team in advance, although no reason has been publicly given for their absence. Jordan recorded a video for the occasion, which was played for guests during the gala in Chicago.
“I’m so bummed I can’t be there tonight,” Jordan said in the video, which has since been shared on the team’s social media accounts. “Believe me, I am very grateful and very honored.”
The gala also took place without retired Bulls forward Dennis Rodman, whose absence was actually a surprise, according to the BBC Chicago Sun Times.
Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf was hoping for more visitors, but didn’t seem too bothered by it.
Pippen (right) and Jordan (left) feuded for years before the Larsa-Marcus romance began
Marcus Jordan and Larsa Pippen are pictured at BravoCon 2023 at Caesars Forum in Las Vegas
Former Bulls star Dennis Rodman was mysteriously absent from the Chicago event
“I don’t really know how much effort went into bringing Jordan and Pippen to the event,” Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf told the Sun-Times. “Obviously it would be better if everyone was here, but we knew going in that not everyone could be here. I think Michael recorded something.”
Golden State Warriors coach and former Bulls sharpshooter Steve Kerr attended the event
Those who did show up included former Bulls coach Phil Jackson, current Warriors coach and former Chicago guard Steve Kerr, as well as former NBA Sixth Man of the Year Toni Kukoc.
Things went well between Jordan and Pippen in the years after they retired.
Pippen described Jordan fondly during his own Hall of Fame induction speech in 2010: “MJ, you touched so many people’s lives, but none like mine. Thank you for being the best teammate; I will always cherish that experience and I will cherish our relationship forever.”
Similarly, Jordan credited Pippen for their six championships together in Chicago during his induction speech a year earlier.
‘In all the videos you never just saw me; You saw Scottie Pippen,” Jordan said. “Every championship I won.”
Jordan and Pippen watch the Charlotte Bobcats take on the Bulls in Chicago in 2011
Toni Kukoc and his wife Renata (left) and Chicago Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf (right)
Bill Wennington (2nd-L) and family attend the Chicago Bulls Inaugural Ring Of Honor Gala
Their collaboration is legendary.
Jordan was one of the NBA’s hottest stars when Pippen was acquired by the Bulls in a draft-day trade in 1987. The problem was that despite his obvious gifts, Jordan had yet to win much of anything at the professional level.
Enter Pippen, a 6-foot-1 former guard who blossomed into a dynamic 6-foot-1 forward at unheralded Central Arkansas.
Pippen’s arrival in Chicago, coupled with Phil Jackson’s promotion to Bulls head coach in 1989, became the catalyst that turned a woeful franchise into six-time NBA champions.
Jordan and Pippen (left) discuss strategy against the Phoenix Suns in Game 4 of the 1993 Finals
Larsa Pippen (left) and Marcus Jordan (right) seen on May 7, 2023 in Miami, Florida
Not only did they win six titles together, but the pair remained fiercely loyal.
In 2018, Pippen even told ESPN that Jordan was “the best player to ever put on shoes and play in our game.”
He even eschewed a comparison between Jordan and James: “I always get asked to compare him to LeBron, and I try to make the best of it. But actually that comparison should never be made.’
More recently, however, Pippen’s praise for Jordan has veered into something completely different.
Pippen’s troubles started with ESPN’s “Last Dance” docuseries, which aired in 2020 to great acclaim.
The problem is, from Pippen’s point of view, Jordan seemed to get credit for the Bulls’ success in the 1990s, while his teammates were seen as minor players.
“They glorified Michael Jordan while not giving me and my proud teammates nearly enough praise,” Pippen, 58, wrote in his memoir Unguarded, released in 2021. “Michael deserved a lot of the blame. The producers had granted him editorial control over the final product. Otherwise the doctor could not have been released. He was the lead actor and the director.”
(From left) Rodman, Jordan, Pippen and Kukoc rest on the bench during a 1996 game at MSG
As a result, Pippen claims, the documentary felt inauthentic.
“I don’t think it was that accurate in terms of really defining what was accomplished in one of the greatest eras of basketball, but also by two of the greatest players — and you could even put that aside and say, the greatest team of all the time,” Pippen told The Guardian in December 2020.
‘I didn’t think those things stood out in the documentary. I thought it was more about Michael trying to elevate himself and be glorified. I think it backfired to some extent because people got a chance to see what kind of personality Michael had.”
But Pippen may have a separate problem with Last Dance, which stems from the criticism he received in Jordan’s docuseries.
In particular, Jordan addressed Pippen’s reluctance to undergo necessary ankle surgery before the 1997–98 season.
Scottie Pippen takes a photo with Michael Jordan during the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
Although he ultimately underwent the procedure, he waited to do so until much of the offseason was over, and as a result, he played until January.
And according to Jordan, Scottie’s reluctance to undergo the surgery was the result of his contract dispute with Bulls general manager Jerry Krause.
“Scottie was wrong in that scenario,” Jordan said. “He could have had the surgery done as soon as the season was over so he could be ready for the season.
“What Scottie tried to do was try to force management to change his contract. Jerry wouldn’t do that. So now I had to start the season knowing Scottie wasn’t going to be there.”
As a result, the Bulls got off to a somewhat disappointing 24–11 start that season, although they still won their sixth title together.
Complicating matters further is the romantic relationship between Pippen’s ex-wife, 49-year-old Larsa, and Jordan’s 32-year-old son, Marcus.
“Marcus and Larsa are dating and have been spending more time together in recent weeks,” a source told Us Weekly in 2022 after the couple was spotted out in public. “They’re trying to keep it on the down low because of the rift between Scottie and Michael.”
Larsa Pippen and Marcus Jordan attend the first We The Best Foundation Classic
Pippen and Larsa were married for almost 20 years and had four children together before divorcing in 2021.
Larsa candidly described their relationship during an episode of Real Housewives of Miami, saying the couple had intercourse four times a night for 23 years.
“I’ve been married for 23 years and I’ve always had sex four times a night,” she said. ‘So three times a week is nothing… I had sex four times a night, every night. I never had a day off for 23 years.”
When other cast members suggested Marcus had “big shoes to fill,” Larsa insisted he had nothing to worry about.
“Well, he’s a size 15 shoe, so I think he’s doing fine,” she said.
Apparently things have improved with Larsa and Marcus.
In February, Larsa called him her “forever Valentine” on Instagram.
Marcus Jordan has hinted that his father could be his best man when he marries girlfriend Larsa Pippen – even though the relationship appears to have caused a rift with his father’s friend and Larsa’s ex-husband Scottie.
On the Pablo Torre Finds Out podcast, Marcus, alongside Larsa, said of his famous father: ‘I was the best man at his wedding and the best man at my brother’s wedding, so obviously we keep the tradition going.
‘I don’t think we have a concrete date. We’re still talking about locations and party size and all that stuff, so it’s not really concrete yet.
“We’re very private people, the Jordans, and so if it were up to me, I think we’d do multiple weddings, one private for our family and friends and then maybe one that’s a little more public, but I Guess time will do that. narrate.’
Earlier this year, Michael was asked by paparazzi if he approved of his son’s relationship when he was filmed leaving a restaurant in Europe.
He shook his head and just said, “No.”
It caused great embarrassment for Larsa, who addressed his comments on her podcast ‘Separation Anxiety’ which she co-hosts with Marcus.
‘Oh my God, I was traumatised. “I felt like it was going everywhere and I was a little embarrassed,” she said.
As was the case with Jordan’s feud with rival Isiah Thomas during their playing days, or his recent friction with longtime friend Charles Barkley, the Hall of Famer has avoided speaking publicly about the matter.