Pipp said that he should’ve listened to MJ’s advice not to team up with “Sir Charles.”
When Scottie Pippen moved on from the Chicago Bulls to the Houston Rockets in 1998, he assumed that teaming up with Charles Barkley and Hakeem Olajuwon was the best route to win his seventh championship.
However, little did Pip know that Barkley was going to be difficult to team up with. He felt the 11-time All-Star was not dedicated to putting in the work he needed to do, which disappointed Pippen, who felt he wasted a year of his career in Houston.
“I probably should’ve listened to Michael [Jordan] a year ago when he said that Charles will never win a championship because he doesn’t show any dedication. He’s a very selfish guy. He doesn’t show the desire to win. That’s my reason for wanting to get away from playing with him -because he just doesn’t show the dedication,” Pippen said, as reported by the L.A. Times.
The star-studded team
The ’98-’99 Rockets were supposed to be juggernauts based on talent, but their overall age was underestimated. This team was built around 33-year-old Pippen, 35-year-old Barkley, and 36-year-old Olajuwon. They had an overall record of 31-19 in the regular season and were beaten by the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the Playoffs.
Six-time champ averaged 14.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 5.9 assists that year, and requested a trade to the Portland Trail Blazers right after. “Sir Charles” then went on the record to say that Scottie needed to apologize for betraying the team and for playing subpar during the series against the Lakers.
“I wouldn’t give Charles Barkley an apology at gunpoint,” Pippen responded. “If anything, he owes me an apology for coming to play with his fat butt.”
Pippen and Barkley still hate each other
After Chuckster joked about Pippen’s comment saying that he always carries a gun with him, the six-time champion admitted in 2021 that he still hasn’t patched things up with his former teammate. In fact, all those years later, Pippen decided to add fuel to the fire by recalling Barkley’s statement and implying that he wasn’t brave enough to back up his talk.
“I wish he would have went through with it,” Pippen told GQ. “I never apologized to him, but I’ll tell you what: He only got arrested for throwing some little white guys out of a window. I ain’t never seen him fight a Black man unless there were referees around. He plays his role like he’s tough. I don’t know nobody he done whooped. Go back and check his record. Did I apologize to him? I told him to get me the hell out of there. That’s what I recall.”
Barkley and Pippen are definitely on the list of the most promising duos that failed to work out. Unfortunately, they couldn’t put together one last run in the twilight years of their careers, which led to animosity between two great Hall of Famers.