Stephen A. Smith slams Scottie Pippen for ’embarrassing himself’ on ‘No Bull’ tour

Stephen A. Smith slams Scottie Pippen for ’embarrassing himself’ on ‘No Bull’ tour originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago

Scottie Pippen has taken just about every opportunity to bash “The Last Dance” docuseries since it aired on ESPN in 2020.

While he’s been the most vocal, he is certainly not alone in rejecting Michael Jordan’s telling of the ’90s Bulls dynasty. This week, Horace Grant and Luc Longley joined Pippen on a tour throughout Australia to share their side of story. The live tour, titled “No Bull,” began Friday Feb. 23 in Tasmania and will head to Melbourne and Sydney in the coming week.

To most fans, and people in general, it doesn’t matter much whose version of events is closer to the truth. Going up against Jordan in the court of public opinion is basically an automatic loss.

Stephen A. Smith echoed this on Friday’s episode of “First Take,” criticizing Pippen for trying to win a war that’s already been decided.

“Scottie Pippen is going to embarrass himself,” Smith said. “Everybody knows he’s not Michael Jordan, he never was. And the fact of the matter is, no matter what he is offended by, the facts were the facts. You saw what he did [by] not going in the game because Phil Jackson didn’t call his number. You know he’s a six-time champion, and Michael Jordan calls him his greatest teammate ever. But he’s doing this because he’s given resistance to what was portrayed in the documentary series. It’s a huge mistake.”

Kendrick Perkins pushed back on Smith, claiming there are three sides to every story.

“There’s Jordan’s side, there’s Pippen and his teammates’ side, and then there’s the truth,” he said.

Perkins also pointed out that Jordan’s version of events led to the false demonization of former Bulls GM Jerry Krause.

Pippen served as Jordan’s right-hand man for all six championship runs. Grant was a Bulls’ big man from 1987-1994, while Longley joined the team in 1994 for the second three-peat.

“A lot of people really want to ask us questions about that bulls— documentary, but just come out and get the tickets and you’ll hear a lot,” Grant said this week while promoting the tour.

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