"It was a selfish decision, but it was who Michael Jordan was" - Scottie Pippen slammed MJ's decision to leave the NBA for baseball
Michael Jordan's retirement in 1993 came as a shock to many.
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At just 30 years old and at the peak of his dominance, the man who had just led the Chicago Bulls to a third consecutive championship stunned the sports world by walking away from basketball.
The news broke less than three months after the murder of his father and the official reason was framed as burnout and a desire to fulfill his father's dream of seeing him play professional baseball. For most fans, the move was seen as a personal detour.
Jordan's selfishness
For Jordan's ex-teammate Scottie Pippen, it represented something else entirely. More than 30 years later, he still carries that moment with a sharp edge, calling Jordan out for his decision to retire.
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"It was a big decision, but it was a selfish decision," Pippen said. "But it was who Michael Jordan was, and that was a guy who believed he can do anything on his own."
That line stings because it reflects a tension that has never fully disappeared. In the 1993–94 season, the first without Jordan, Pippen shouldered the mantle of leadership and carried the Bulls to a 55–27 record, just two wins shy of their previous campaign.
He was named All-Star Game MVP, finished third in league MVP voting and reminded everyone that he was far more than a sidekick. But despite the numbers and accolades, the shadow of Chicago's former apex predator never left the building.
Pippen's comment now, after years of layered interviews, documentaries, and biographical rewrites, pierces through the nostalgia.
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He wasn't just left with the burden of carrying the team; he was left to answer for someone else's exit. It became clear that Jordan's absence didn't only leave a vacuum in scoring but a disruption in chemistry, identity and championship continuity.
Jordan left and the dynasty paused. Pippen stayed and the responsibility tripled.
Scottie's 1993–94 season was the finest of his career — he averaged 22.0 points, 8.7 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 2.9 steals per game. But the heartbreak of that season came in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals when he refused to enter the game for the final possession.
The play had been drawn for Toni Kukoc. Pippen was the alpha all season long, but in that moment, he was reminded that hierarchy still haunted the locker room. The media blitzed him. The fans questioned him. And Jordan was nowhere near the court.
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Related: Michael Jordan shows off his $115 million luxurious superyacht in Croatia
Just teammates
That remark hangs with weight. The Bulls of the 1990s were a machine that won six titles in eight years but left behind bruised egos and complex friendships. The Pippen and Jordan dynamic was never built on sentiment. It was built on competition, tension and a shared need to dominate.
On the court, it worked. Off it, the mythology often skipped over the grit. Now, with time having sanded down some edges but not all, Pippen is less interested in sanitizing the past.
"We were excellent teammates," he said. "We try to make more out of it sometimes [than] the way it truly was."
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Jordan's baseball pursuit first with the Birmingham Barons, a Double-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox, was anything but triumphant. He batted .202 with three home runs and 51 RBIs in 127 games. The stats revealed what many suspected: that greatness in one sport didn't automatically translate to another.
When Jordan returned to the NBA in March 1995 with his iconic "I'm back" fax, it reignited the dynasty, but it didn't erase what had happened. The Bulls fell to the Orlando Magic in that year's playoffs, a reality check that even the greatest needed rhythm. By 1996, they were champions again, but the emotional ledger between Jordan and Pippen had already changed.
Pippen's comments don't sound bitter as much as they sound unfinished. He's not revising history but is simply refusing to let it be packaged cleanly. For decades, Jordan has been canonized — and rightfully so. But in Pippen's eyes, the crown came with consequences.
Related: "I rather get away from the game a little bit" - Michael Jordan on why he never saw himself becoming an NBA head coach
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jun 30, 2025, where it first appeared.
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