Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen ascended to the top of the world together.
Six times, they made the NBA Finals with the Chicago Bulls. Six times, they lifted those Bulls to a championship.
In the years since, their relationship has become a popular topic. Based on public comments and other observations, Jordan and Pippen have fallen away from one another.
For fans of those Bulls, it's a bummer. They were Batman and Robin, but not anymore.
In a new book, the famed Bulls chronicler Sam Smith wrote about 75 of the NBA's legendary players. And as part of the book release, Smith did an interview with HoopsHype where he talked about the Bulls, of course.
This is some of what Smith shared:
"Phil was very sympathetic toward him, despite whatever things he said about him. We talked about that in the book. He said, 'I feel like Scottie's had bad advice.' And the touching thing, though, was that when I asked him about how Michael reacted, he said Michael was really hurt by it, and not angry. He regrets losing this relationship."
That last sentence is the one that will really stick out to fans of those legendary Bulls teams.
Of course, this is second-hand information from Smith, so it isn't 100% certain. But it points to the idea that MJ, at least at this point, would've preferred not to lose Scottie from his life.
There's still time to make amends, although it's not clear whether that could be in the cards.
Fans of those Bulls will likely just look back on the bygone era and recall the good memories, rather than dwelling too much in the messier present.
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