- [Clara] A banner with Scottie Pippen's retired number
hangs in the rafters of Chicago's United Center.
An honor bestowed to few,
it memorializes Pippen's invaluable role
in the Chicago Bulls organization.
It gives his legacy a home.
But that banner doesn't really tell the whole story.
Banners rarely do.
This one in particular leaves out the role
Pippen and the Bulls themselves
played in a very large, very stinky pile of beef.
(gentle orchestral music)
The summer of 1994 was the first time in a long time
that the Chicago Bulls didn't get to spray
celebratory champagne at each other.
After winning three championships in a row,
they finally fell.
Mostly because Michael Jordan had retired.
In his place, Scottie Pippen stepped up as team leader.
And while Pippen didn't win 'em another ring,
he defied expectations and had himself a solid season.
He was even All-Star MVP.
And now, just days after being eliminated
in the Eastern Conference Semis,
Pippen let it be known he wanted
to renegotiate his contract.
He was one of the best in the league,
and next year he was set to be paid
like the 91st-best player in the league.
So hey, Bulls management, why not negotiate?
Well, there are actually a lot of answers to that question.
Sure, Pippen played well in '94,
but he also badmouthed GM Jerry Krause all season long
for not getting him more support;
implied Bulls fans were racist;
and, cherry on top,
just a few days before asking for more money,
he sat out the last 1.8 seconds of a tied playoff game
because Phil Jackson called the play for someone else.
Read the room, Pippen.
You're not getting a raise.
In fact, the way Krause wanted to move forward
was waving goodbye to Scottie Pippen.
After all the drama of the '94 season,
Krause nearly dealt Pippen to Seattle for Shawn Kemp.
But the Sonics called it off at the last second.
Kemp was a fan favorite
among a particularly supportive fan base.
Pippen was blindsided, and angry.
Krause's defense?
He wasn't actively trying to trade Scottie,
but he wasn't gonna ignore offers
that came across his desk either.
This doesn't quite line up with Seattle's account.
But Pippen didn't need to split hairs
over who started trade talks to be deeply hurt.
The rest of the offseason
was chock-full of Pippen trade rumors,
but none of 'em materialized.
I guess it's hard to get a fair deal
for one of the best guys in the league.
Plus, the Bulls had just lost a chunk of their core.
Perhaps they were wary of starting from scratch.
So, Pippen was their guy,
for better or worse.
Like on December 27th when Pippen got ejected
and the Bulls lost to the 3-23 Clippers.
At home.
Causing their record to hit .500.
Compared to three years of trophies
and one year where they were still in contention,
the '95 season felt like
the Bulls were plummeting off a cliff.
And Scottie, their leader,
wasn't about to take responsibility for that.
The next day, he blamed Krause for letting the team fall.
He didn't put enough talent around Scottie.
He didn't make an effort to keep Horace Grant.
And by the way, he's a liar.
Scottie didn't buy that whole
"we weren't seeking a trade" line.
Now, Krause's dishonesty didn't necessarily contribute
to the Bulls' on-court woes,
but it certainly bothered Scottie,
so why shouldn't he get that off his chest too?
Maybe because it would serve as the straw
that broke the camel's already fairly fucked-up back.
Krause took particular offense at being called a liar.
For Krause, this was the end of any semblance
of a relationship between him and Scottie Pippen.
So what was Krause to do?
Maybe he could trade him, but in the meantime,
he could definitely be petty.
A few weeks later, Krause had Pippen's agent
kicked out of the tunnel near the locker room.
And what's that noise?
Do you hear that? It sounds kinda like an injured camel?
Kicking out his agent was the straw
that broke Pippen's camel's back.
The next day, he demanded a trade.
Or Krause's firing, Bulls' choice.
Pippen didn't even care if he went to a bad team.
He just wanted to get away from Krause.
Who, by the way, he more than hated.
About a month later during All-Star Weekend,
Pippen hadn't backed down from his trade demand
and was actually more brazen.
On live TV, in a relaxed and thoughtful manner,
he said even a new contract couldn't keep him in Chicago.
- I want to go and play somewhere else.
I think the franchise and the team
has changed since I've been there,
and I think it's time for a change for me.
- [Clara] But here's the thing.
Pippen was still really good at basketball.
Krause got a lot of offers,
but none of them were good enough to replace such talent.
The trade deadline came and went,
and Pippen was still a Bull.
Scottie responded by putting his foot down even harder.
He wanted to be traded over the summer,
and if he wasn't, he'd retire.
At age 29.
That's how far this had gone.
Pippen hated the Bulls too much to play for them again,
and nothing could change his...
And only one thing could change his mind.
Michael Jordan was returning to the Bulls
with a month left in the '95 regular season.
Which mollified some of Pippen's complaints.
Now there was enough talent around Scottie.
Now the team wasn't plummeting.
They weren't good enough to win another ring, yet.
Jordan said he was coming back for the '95-'96 season.
That was promising.
Oh, and Jordan said something else too.
He wanted Pippen to return with him.
Management wasn't gonna try and trade Scottie
after the best player in the NBA said he wanted him.
And Pippen, with a very real chance at a fourth ring,
decided he could put his hatred of Krause
on the back burner for a while.
With Dennis Rodman added to the mix,
the Bulls won 72 regular season games in 1996,
and that put everybody in a real good mood.
In the postseason, Krause made some nice comments
about Pippen, who was playing injured.
But don't worry, we get more beef soon.
Not right away.
Right away we get a fourth championship.
Hooray!
Now that that's out of the way, it was time to beef again.
In the '96-'97 season, Pippen was making $2.25 million.
Which sounds like a lot of money,
but compared to the rest of the league, it was not.
Scottie Pippen, regarded as one
of the best all-around players in the game,
number two on the most dominant team of the decade,
was the 128th-highest-paid player in the league.
He was the sixth-highest-paid player on the Bulls,
and he made $27 million less than Michael Jordan.
Why was Pippen so underpaid?
Well, that has to do with the NBA's salary cap,
and it's a little bit complicated.
Let's think of the salary cap like a box.
The league basically says you can fill this box with money
and use that money to pay your players.
You don't have to use all the money, but you can,
and teams trying to entice the best players
likely will use all the money in their box.
Now, in 1996, the league said,
"You know what? TV ratings are soaring.
We're giving everybody a bigger box!
Fill that sucker with money
and use that cash to lure your favorites."
Teams didn't get bigger.
The money was still divided up
among the same amount of people.
So that meant everybody signing after 1996
was getting... more money.
But Scottie Pippen signed his contract back in 1991,
when the box was tiny.
Relatively, let's just ignore the fact that we're dealing
with millions and millions of dollars for a second.
Okay, so, the box was tiny in 1991.
Pippen got a large fraction of that '91 box money,
but it is an infinitesimal fraction of the '96 box money.
And even less of the '97 box money.
When you realize just how underpaid Pippen is,
he doesn't seem whiny.
He actually seems sort of magnanimous
for shutting up about it
to focus on that fourth championship.
But in December of 1996, he was done shutting up about it.
He was tired of the disrespect from management
and wanted out.
And it kinda made sense for the Bulls to trade him.
Pippen's contract ended after the following season
and, like, he's definitely gonna walk in free agency,
so why not trade him and get something in return?
Or, as Pippen explained it,
"I'm probably the most tradeable player on the team.
Ray Charles can see that.
Nothing against Ray Charles."
Pippen has a flair with quotes.
Oh, also, the Bulls had a wonderful season
and won a fifth title, so that was nice.
Not nice enough that Krause
felt like spending more time with Pippen.
He was ready to trade him for youth and start rebuilding.
Over the summer, Krause nearly traded Pippen
to the Celtics for early draft picks.
He had his eye on promising high schooler Tracy McGrady.
The only reason the deal didn't go through
was because Jordan wanted Scottie.
Jordan didn't want to rebuild, he wanted another ring.
Who wouldn't?
After all his trade demands,
you might think Scottie would be disappointed
he wasn't headed to Boston.
But actually, he was just kinda pissed
Krause was gonna send him to a bad team.
Boston only won 15 games in 1997.
Yeah, he said he'd go anywhere a bunch of times,
but that was in the past.
I don't know what to tell you.
It might be hard to make Scottie Pippen happy.
While all this was going on, Pippen needed foot surgery
after getting injured in the Eastern Conference Finals.
But he didn't get surgery right away.
He traveled to New York for a second opinion,
and charged the Bulls for a private plane to do so,
after they told him to fly commercial.
Then Krause sent Pippen a letter
threatening to fine him if he played in the annual
Scottie Pippen Ameritech All-Star Classic charity game.
He couldn't risk further injuring his foot.
Pippen didn't appreciate being bossed around,
nor that the GM's message was delivered
via an impersonal letter.
And the forward turned vengeful.
Pippen didn't end up having the surgery he needed
until after training camp began,
thus ensuring he'd miss a chunk of the '98 season
and the Bulls' path to a sixth championship
would be more difficult.
Some thought Pippen purposely delayed surgery
to stick it to Krause.
This is hard to prove, mostly because Pippen has denied it,
and also admitted it.
While Pippen was out, the Bulls struggled.
They clearly needed him.
Fans were annoyed.
Teammates were annoyed.
Krause was annoyed.
But Pippen just saw opportunity.
For beef.
With his value to the team made so obvious,
he was emboldened.
On a road trip in late November,
Pippen was a little drunk on the team bus,
and also Jerry Krause was on that bus.
According to Pippen, he lost his temper and shouted things
like, "Stop taking credit for drafting me" at Krause.
But there's evidence his shouting was way worse.
Like, so bad, people don't repeat specifics.
And as the papers revealed the following morning,
Pippen hadn't just let loose behind closed bus doors.
He had once again publicly demanded a trade,
but doubted it would happen because Krause was "chicken."
He said he wouldn't come back
to play with the Bulls this season,
even if he was healthy.
And actually, he might already be healthy?
Was he just sitting out to piss off Krause?
Management brushed off Scottie's comments as unserious,
nothing to worry about.
Maybe he didn't even really want a trade.
But the public was not so forgiving.
Nobody even cared that Pippen's contract was unfair anymore.
He's still getting millions.
In the days that followed, Pippen walked back his position.
And in mid-January, he rejoined the team on the court.
With Pippen, Chicago had a resurgence
and soon found themselves back in the NBA Finals.
In Game 6, Pippen was struggling with back pain
and spent the majority of the first half
in the locker room getting treatment.
Krause was in the locker room as well
and saw how much pain Pippen was in
and the aggressive treatment he was enduring
to get back on the court.
In the face of such dedication,
some of the hatred in Krause's heart melted.
And when Pippen returned to the game,
he didn't play like he was hurt.
Watch this.
With seven minutes left, down one,
Pippen just kept setting screens
until his team got the open shot.
He sacrificed his body for...
The Bulls' sixth championship in eight years.
Worth it, I'm guessing.
With the conclusion of the '98 season,
Scottie Pippen's insulting contract was finally over.
There were some rumors the Bulls
would offer Pippen a new contract.
If MJ wanted to go for another title, they'd need Scottie.
But that's not what happened.
The old gang broke up, and Chicago was eager to rebuild.
Just before the lockout-shortened '99 season began,
Pippen was off to Houston in a sign-and-trade deal.
He finally got his payday.
And actually, Krause helped Pippen
get that staggering payday.
By signing him and then trading him,
Krause guaranteed Pippen would get $20 million more
than if he just signed a new contract with a new team.
Krause called the sign-and-trade
a "going-away present" for Scottie.
But it's not like he did it
out of the goodness of his heart.
If the Bulls just let Scottie walk away in free agency,
they wouldn't get anything in return.
This way, at least they got a couple of guys.
Nonetheless, Scottie was grateful to Krause.
Krause passed away in 2017
and his obituary cited drafting Pippen
as one of his greatest accomplishments.
He found Pippen at midsized NAIA school Central Arkansas
and made a deal on draft night to secure him for the Bulls.
Pippen expressed gratitude for Krause's scouting
in his autobiography published in 2021.
In his book, Pippen also admitted some fault,
or perhaps some regret,
that he was so hard on Krause for all those years.
After all, it was owner Jerry Reinsdorf
who had been pulling the strings.
Maybe he should've been the target of Pippen's wrath.
But Pippen also wrote there isn't one word
of Jerry Krause criticism that he'd take back.
Not "liar," not "chicken,"
not whatever he said on the bus,
so it's not like Pippen totally forgave the guy.
After his stint with the Rockets, Pippen headed to Portland,
then found himself back with the Bulls in 2003 at age 37.
Krause had retired, but Pippen still had the weight
of nearly a decade of Bulls beef on his shoulders.
For there to be gumdrops and rainbows
in the second go-round,
Pippen either had to be willing to shed his hurt
or the Bulls had to somehow make up for it.
Neither ended up being possible.
The team was bad, which is never a recipe for harmony.
When the new GM, former Pippen teammate John Paxson,
fired the coach, former Pippen teammate Bill Cartwright,
Pippen checked out.
He hit the injured list after only 23 games
and thought Paxson took that personally.
And when the Bulls tried to defer some of Pippen's salary...
Well, there was a bit too much history
with the team shortchanging him
for Scottie to let that one go.
And while we're currently speaking
in a very sad manner about a sad situation,
a seemingly irrevocable relationship
between a star and his team,
let's take a second to remember that in the 1990s,
the Bulls won six championships.
I mean, what the hell?
That's too many.
Share.
Or have flaws.
But actually, that's the thing.
They had flaws.
That's what we've been talking about.
The literal hatred.
The insulting contract.
The purposely waiting to have surgery
during the regular season.
But none of that messed up their ring count.
It's ridiculous.
Pippen might not forgive the Bulls,
but there's a golden lining to this beef,
and it's made of Larry O'Brien Trophies.
Thanks so much for watching part two
of our extra large beef.
If you missed part one, you can catch it here,
or you can try another video altogether, or subscribe,
or just go about your day however you want.
Which probably means watching these videos, yeah?
For Secret Base, I'm Clara Morris.
Goodnight and good game.