Scottie Pippen regrets not listening to Michael Jordan’s advice about joining the Rockets.
The Chicago Bulls dynasty of the 90s ended in 1998. Jordan retired and the Bulls made a sign-and-trade deal with the Rockets, sending Pippen to Houston in exchange for Roy Rogers and a second-round pick in the 2000 NBA Draft. MJ gave great advice to Pip about Charles Barkley, but Scottie didn’t want to listen.
The Rockets formed their own super team. They had three stars in Hakeem Olajuwon, Charles Barkley and Pippen, so it was surprising to see a team with so much talent not being successful. One explanation is that Olajuwon, Barkley and Pippen were not in their primes, but what really hurt them was that Barkley and Pippen didn’t get along.
Why Pippen clashed with Barkley
Pippen averaged 14.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists and two steals in 40.2 minutes over 50 games with the Rockets, and he wanted out because he thought Barkley wasn’t dedicated enough to winning.
After a public argument with Barkley, Pippen wished he would’ve listened to MJ, who reportedly warned him about Barkley’s commitment.
“I probably should have listened to Michael a year ago when he said that Charles never will win a championship because he doesn’t show any dedication,” Pippen said after leaving the Rockets in 1999.
What went wrong in Houston?
No matter how talented the players are, you can’t really expect teams to do well without teamwork. But what happened exactly? The Rockets went 31-19 during the shortened 1998-99 season and the Lakers eliminated them 3-1 in the first round of the playoffs.
Then, at Pippen’s request, the Rockets traded him to the Trail Blazers for Stacey Augmon, Kelvin Cato, Walt Williams, Carlos Rogers, Brian Shaw and Ed Gray on October 2, 1999
Pippen and Rockets head coach Rudy Tomjanovich were never aligned, as he didn’t fit in the team’s low-post oriented offense. Pippen often competed with Olajuwon and Barkley for looks at the basket. The six-time NBA champion was relegated to a spot-up shooting role and the Rockets played at a much slower pace than he preferred.
Barkley felt that Pippen’s five-year, $67 million contract with the Rockets was possible because he took a massive pay cut. He also thought that Pippen owed him an apology for wanting out of Houston after just one season. Pippen didn’t take that well, saying he would never apologize to him.
Source: si.com
