After the 1997-98 NBA season, which is currently being profiled on ESPN’s “The Last Dance” documentary, longtime Chicago Bulls star Scottie Pippen chose to sign a new contract with the Houston Rockets.
It did not go nearly as well as envisioned.
Despite having three future Hall of Famers in Pippen, Charles Barkley, and Hakeem Olajuwon, the ’99 Rockets went just 29-21 in the regular season and were dispatched in the first round of the playoffs. Pippen then got into a public feud with Barkley that offseason, and Houston traded him to Portland after just one season with the franchise.
Current Houston broadcaster Matt Bullard played nine seasons with the Rockets over a period from 1990 to 2001, and he was on the roster for the complete tenures of both Pippen and Barkley in Houston.
In a Tuesday appearance on flagship radio station SportsTalk 790, Bullard looked back on those memories.
“When Scottie Pippen left the Bulls, I didn’t realize that he was coming off of being very underpaid for seven years,” Bullard said. “I didn’t know that he had that saltiness about being underpaid when he came to us. But I do remember, the rest of us — when Scottie came, and it was already after training camp had started a little bit — he came into Houston, and he never really did integrate himself into the Rockets’ organization.”
Bullard continued:
He never really tried to make an effort to be a Houston Rocket. … He was coming in thinking, ‘Hey, I’m Michael Jordan.’ I mean, not really Michael Jordan, but ‘I’m Scottie Pippen.’ And the rest of us could feel that. Those types of things still stick with me. … Looking back on all the teammates I’ve had, I would say that Scottie Pippen was not one of my favorite teammates. Because when I did play with him, he wasn’t trying to be a Rocket. He was just trying to be the man, and it didn’t really work.
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Pippen averaged 14.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists, and 2.0 steals per game during his one season with the Rockets.
By contrast, Bullard had a much more positive recollection of his years with Barkley. Here’s how Bullard characterized Barkley as a teammate, along with what led to his falling out with Pippen:
When Barkley came to the Rockets, he did try to integrate himself. He did a really good job of being a great teammate. He’s one of my favorite teammates of all-time. … I really enjoyed playing with him, and he really tried to make the Rockets better and play alongside Hakeem and Clyde [Drexler], and really tried to win games.
Charles had to take a paycut in order for Scottie Pippen to sign that big contract. I think when Charles made the sacrifice to take less money to bring in Pippen, and Scottie comes in and doesn’t try to integrate himself into the roster or the team, I think that really rubbed Charles the wrong way. Barkley really wanted to win a championship.
Obviously he never won one, but he felt like this was going to be his last chance to win one, teaming up with “The Dream” and Scottie Pippen. And Pippen came in and wasn’t playing well, and wasn’t a good teammate.
From there, Bullard shared a story about a bus trip with the team in the 1999 season to further illustrate what he meant.
“I remember one time on a bus ride, we had lost a game and we were going to the airport and we were all down,” Bullard said.
“We heard in the back, Scottie Pippen say very loudly so that everyone could hear, ‘We would’ve never done this with the Bulls.’ To me, it was like, ‘Hmm. That’s not good.’ So I can understand why Charles and Pippen got sideways when they were Rockets, and I can understand Charles’ side of it, because he took a paycut in order to bring Pippen in.”
After a lockout-shortened season (50 games), Pippen wanted to join Phil Jackson in LA. He sought a trade on national TV and blasted Charles Barkley, who had taken a paycut for Scottie to join the Rockets.
Barkley had one of the all-time great responses. https://t.co/ptZTyHKPkU pic.twitter.com/G3zn8OLAtS
— ClutchFans (@clutchfans) April 29, 2020
Bullard said he was stunned by Pippen’s recent revelation on “The Last Dance” that he still had no regrets about refusing to enter a 1994 playoff game in the closing seconds when Chicago head coach Phil Jackson had drawn up the final shot for Toni Kukoc, rather than Pippen.
How about that? That was shocking, that Scottie Pippen basically quit on his teammates. He didn’t go into the game, didn’t inbound the ball. Toni Kukoc hits the shot to win, and Scottie still hasn’t learned his lesson after 25 to 30 years that ‘Hey, you don’t quit on your teammates.’ How the coach wants to run the play is how you should do it. … Those types of things follow you throughout your career.
Bullard declined to share more stories about Pippen, but his closing statement to hosts Adam Clanton and Adam Wexler summed it up.
“I’m not going to throw all the stuff out in public,” Bullard said with a laugh. “But I will say that Scottie’s not one of my favorite teammates. He never really was a Rocket, and that summarizes it right there.”
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ICYMI: Matt Bullard joined The A-Team talking about The Last Dance and what Scottie Pippen was like as a Rockets https://t.co/Wvk3xO71ox
— SportsTalk 790 (@SportsTalk790) May 12, 2020