The truth about Michael Jordan without Scottie Pippen

Before we begin, I just want to emphasize that I am not trying to diminish Scottie’s accomplishments and I agree that Jordan would not have won 6 without Scottie, though I believe he would have won 2 or 3. However, not being able to win 6 without Scottie is irrelevant since no player has won 2+ rings without another Hall of Fame teammate.

• Barry did it with rookie Jamaal Wilkes shooting 32% in the ’75 Finals.
• Walton did it once in ’77 (but with Hall of Fame coach Jack Ramsay).
• Hakeem did it once in ’94.

But nobody did it more than once.

The purpose of this section is to dispel the myths created by those that use Pippen as a means to discredit Jordan’s accomplishments.

Now we are focused solely on the biggest criticism against Jordan — being unable to win without Pippen. Although this is technically true, there is an extreme lack of context behind what actually happened without Pippen. Let’s take a look at the whole picture.

JORDAN’S 1–9 PLAYOFF RECORD BEFORE PLAYING WITH SCOTTIE PIPPEN

• Having no Scottie Pippen was not the only reason for Jordan’s struggles in the first 3 seasons of his career.
• Jordan was drafted to a team of multiple cocaine addicts, including Orlando Woolridge and Quintin Dailey — both of whom eventually left the team due to their addictions.
• Jordan also missed nearly his entire 2nd season due to a broken foot, during which the Bulls went 21–43 without Jordan. Do you really expect him to make it out the first round after missing nearly the entire season with a 21–43 team, and with crack addicts on top of that?
• Jordan only played 2 full seasons before playing with Pippen thanks to his injury. Going off an extremely selective 2 season sample size, one can point out that LeBron didn’t even make the playoffs his first 2 seasons, or that Shaq had an 0–3 playoff record after his first 2 seasons.

JORDAN HAVING 5 LOSING SEASONS IN ALL 5 SEASONS WITHOUT PIPPEN

The first 3 seasons have already been explained. Lets take a look at Jordan’s Wizards years with FULL context.

MJ ’01-’02 SEASON BEFORE INJURY (AGE 38) THROUGH 46 GAMES

• 25.1 pts — 6.2 reb — 5.3 ast — 1.5 stl — 0.5 blk on 42%.
• slightly better than his ’96 Finals MVP averages.
• T-Mac was the only player to finish the season averaging at least 25–6–5

Defensively Jordan also had an impact even at this late stage of his career.

• ’01 Wizards — 2nd worst in ppg allowed the year before.

UP TO THE INJURY GAME ’02 WIZARDS

• Allowed 92.2 ppg through 47 games (Jordan missed 1 game).
• Would be tied for 6th-best in the league with the Pistons.
• Allowed 92.0 ppg in the 46 games Jordan played.
• Would be tied for 5th best in the league with the Nets.

AFTER JORDAN’S INJURY ’02 WIZARDS

• Allowed 96.8 ppg in the remaining 35 games
• Would be ranked 19th in the league
• And fell to 11th in ppg allowed for the overall season.

The only negative of Jordan’s game was FG%, which is to be expected at the tail end of your career, and his low FG% had much more to do with his back, rib, knee, and wrist injuries along with his old age, rather than the defense he was facing. However, low FG% doesn’t necessarily equate to a negative effect on your team’s win column.

• In Jordan’s 46 games before knee injury the Wiz had a 26–20 (0.565 win%).
• In games without MJ and post-injury, the Wizards had a 11–25 (0.300 win%)

This is also despite the absence of Rip Hamilton for about a month during Jordan’s 26–20 stretch. In the last 16 games that Rip and Jordan played together prior to Jordan’s knee collision, the Wizards went 15–1, and they won 13 straight games when both of them played together. Had both Rip and MJ stayed healthy, they very well could have cracked 50 wins overall despite starting the season 2–9 and being a 19-win team the previous year. After Jordan’s injury, Rip went 9–24 (0.273 win%) in the remaining games he played, so it was clearly Jordan who had by far the most impact on the W column. The following season, Jordan didn’t have as much of an impact on the W column in the ’02-’03 season as they went 37–45. His impact prior to injury is unquestionable, however.

SOME MORE FACTS

• Jordan — 31–12 (0.721 win%) without Pippen in the last 3peat.
• Jordan — 36–9 (0.800 win%) without Rodman in ’95-’96 and ’96-’97 seasons.

In the ’97-’98 season, The Bulls started off 9–7 without Pippen and then went 15–4 in their next 19 games before Pippen’s return. Once they found their rhythm, they were playing exceptionally well without him.

The ’93-’94 Bulls had a similar scenario where they started off the season 4–7, but ended up with 55 wins, and the same thing happened with the ’01-’02 Wizards starting 2–9 but going 26–20 overall in the games Jordan played pre-injury, even with Rip Hamilton missing about a month.

PIPPEN WON 55 WITHOUT JORDAN AND MADE THE ’00 WCF WITHOUT JORDAN

See this regarding the 55 wins and the ’93-’94 Bulls. The main points to keep in mind

• Jordan NEVER played with Pippen’s entire supporting cast at the same time like Pippen did during the ’93-’94 season.
• Grant, Cartwright, Armstrong, Kukoc, Kerr.
• Regular season wins are not the barometer for success, as the ’04 and ’05 Pistons (54 wins each — made the Finals) prove compared to the ’06 Pistons (64 wins — lost in ECF).

Regarding the ’00 WCF, Pippen joined a Blazers team that already made the ’99 WCF in the previous year without Pippen. On that team Pippen was 3rd option at best.

The surprising part is that Jordan actually DID get a career winning record without Scottie despite all those injuries, lack of experience, and off-court distractions. Jordan was 193–187 (0.508 win%) without Pippen in his career. And remember, this is including the games after Jordan’s knee injury in Washington at age 38.

• ’84-’85 (38–44)
• ’85-’86 (9–9)
• ’86-’87 (40–42)
• ’87-’88 (3–0)
• ’88-’89 (4–5)
• First 3peat (1–0)
• Last 3peat (31–12)
• ’01-’02 (30–30)
• ’02-’03 (37–45)

And lastly, there were several instances where Jordan had to carry the team with Pippen missing or struggling and proved he could get it done regardless.

’89 ECSF, GAME 6 VS KNICKS

• Pippen was ejected at the end of the 3rd quarter.
• Bulls are a 6 seed team vs 2 seed Knicks.
• Without Pippen, MJ drops 12–2–3–1–2 in only the 4th quarter, and the game-winning FTs to get the Bulls in the ECF for the first time in histor.

’89 ECF VS PISTONS

• Jordan shutdown Isiah in the series to 39% FG.
• MJ carried them to 2 wins vs Pistons.
• no other team beat them once in the playoffs.
• Pippen had a poor 10–7–3 on 40% for the series, while Jordan had to shut down the best player, Isiah, and with Pippen disappearing they lose.

’91 FINALS GAME 3 VS LAKERS

• People bring up one game where Pippen did good D on Magic, but forget this.
• Pippen fouled out in Game 3 with 10 secs left, Bulls down 2.
• Without Pippen, Jordan nails the game tying shot, and causes the deflection on the next possession to force OT.
• Jordan leads the Bulls on a 14–4 run after Pippen fouls out, and scores or sets up 12 of their 14 pts.
• Without Pippen, Jordan shuts down Magic to 0–0–0 on 0/2 FG and steals a turnover from Magic in the OT to take the 2–1 series lead.

’97 FINALS VS JAZZ

• Pippen did not do well in 3 of the 4 wins, including the series-deciding Games 5 and 6.
• In Game 2, Pippen had 10–6–4 on a terrible 31%. Rodman only had 7 rebounds in 25 minutes, and Harper was the only other double digit teammate with 13–2–4 on 50%.
• Jordan carried the team with 38–13–9–2 on 55%, leading them in points, rebounds, and assists by a large margin. He had almost triple the points of his next leading scorer (38 to 13), almost double the rebounds of the next rebounder (13 to 7) and more than double the next-leading player in assists (9 to 4).
• In the “Flu game”, Pippen had 17 pts but on a horrible 29% shooting. Pippen also had 5 assists to 3 turnovers and 4 fouls.
• Kukoc was the only other Jordan teammate in double figures with 12.
• Dennis Rodman fouled out in only 23 minutes during the Flu Game.
• Greg Ostertag, of all people, outrebounded all of Jordan’s teammates with 15. Greg Ostertag.
• Ostertag and Stockton both outscored all of Jordan’s teammates besides Pippen, who needed a shot-jacking and bricking 29% to get his points.
• Despite having so little help on offense, Jordan singlehandedly brought the Bulls back from 16 down and had the go-ahead 3-pointer with 25 seconds left to take a 3–2 lead in the series. Jordan finished with 38–7–5–3 on 48%, leading his team in points, assists, and steals.
• In Game 6, Pippen had 23 points, but on a horrible 35% with 2 assists to 5 turnovers and 5 fouls. To his credit, he did force a turnover on the last possession of the game, but that was only possible thanks to Jordan having the game-winning assist one play earlier in spite of Pippen’s horrible play.
• In Game 6, no other player besides Pippen and Jordan had 10 points, and as we saw Pippen was shooting horribly to get those points. Every other teammate of Jordan’s got outscored by John Stockton, Bryon Russell, Jeff Hornacek, and Karl Malone.
• Despite the lack of help, Jordan ended up with 39–11–4, leading his team in points, rebounds, and assists, and set up Steve Kerr for a wide-open shot with his championship-winning assist.
• In the ’97 Finals, Jordan averaged 32–7–6–1–1 on 46%. If we count assists as 2 points, he scored/assisted 44 of the Bulls 88 ppg in the ’97 Finals — exactly 50% of their points were because of Jordan.
• After being tied 2–2, Pippen struggled in the clinching games 5 and 6, averaging 20 ppg on 32% shooting with 3.5 apg to 4 turnovers and 4.5 fouls. Yet Jordan made a game-winning play in both Games 5 and 6 to win the title.
• After having 27–9–2 on 58% in the Game 1 win, Pippen averaged 16.7–8.3–3.7 on 32% with 3.0 TOpg and 3.7 fouls per game in their last 3 wins during Games 2–5–6.
• Including Pippen’s good Game 1, he averaged 19.3–8.5–3.3 on 39% with 3.8 TOpg and 3.3 fouls per game in the 4 wins. Pippen averaged more turnovers than assists and as many fouls as assists in the 4 wins while shooting 35% or worse in 3/4 wins.

’97-’98 SEASON

• Pippen injured, misses half the season.
• Jordan still carries them to 62 wins and a top 3 defense and with another MVP and scoring title.

’98 ECF VS PACERS

• Game 4 — Pippen misses 2 clutch FT at the end, and Reggie hits the game winning 3.
• Pippen could have made it 3–1, but his choking made the series tied at 2–2.
• Game 6 — Pippen has only 1 pt in the 4th quarter, Bulls lose by 2.
• Game 7 — Jordan shoots poorly, but drops a near triple double 28–9–8.
• Once again, Jordan, not Pippen, has to shut down the other team’s best player.
• Reggie Miller killed the Bulls for 22 pts on 7/12 FG in 3 qtrs.
• Jordan guards him in the 4th, 0 pts for Reggie.
• Jordan’s near triple double and lockdown on Reggie in Game 7 saved the season after Pippen nearly blew it in Games 4 and 6.
• Reggie went on to average 28 ppg on 48% in Games 2–6 vs the ’00 Lakers at age 34, after only one bad game in Game 1. Lakers had the number 1 Drtg that year.

’98 FINALS, GAME 6

• Pippen injured again, misses most of the game.
• Rodman got destroyed by Malone — 31–11–7 on 58%.
• Both of Jordan’s best players disappeared.
• Kukoc is the only Jordan teammate in double figures with 15.
• Jeff Hornacek outscored all of Jordan’s teammates.
• Bulls are facing a Game 7 in Utah with a severely injured Pippen if they don’t win Game 6.
• Jordan took over, scored more than half the Bulls points, and it was Jordan, not Pippen, that made arguably the biggest defensive play in Finals history when he stripped Malone and made the game winner.

Also the year that is most mentioned is ’88 playoff series against Cavs when jordan won his first playoff series and year when Pippen was drafted. That’s why many LeBron fanboys like to mention that Pippen is the real reason why jordan won his first playoff series. Truth is that Pippen was a bench player that started 0 regular season games. In series against Cleveland in ’88 Pippen started 1 game and averaged 10.6 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 2.4 apg, 0.8 spg and 1 bpg on 47% FG in 26.8 mpg. Meanwhile Jordan averaged 45.2 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 4.8 apg, 2.8 spg, 1.6 bpg on 56% FG in 43.4 mpg.

GAME 1 — BULLS WON 104–93

Scottie Pippen — 0 pts, 2 rebs, 2 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk, 2 tov on 0/5 (00% FG) in 19 minutes
Michael Jordan — 50 pts, 7 rebs, 2 ast, 2 stl, 2 blk, 5 tov on 19/35 (54% FG) in 44 minutes

GAME 2 — BULLS WON 106–101

Scottie Pippen — 8 pts, 12 rebs, 2 ast, 0 stl, 1 blk, 3 tov on 4/8 (50% FG) in 30 minutes
Michael Jordan — 55 pts, 6 rebs, 3 ast, 4 stl, 1 blk, 1 tov on 24/45 (53% FG) in 44 minutes

GAME 3 — CAVS WON 110–102

Scottie Pippen — 6 pts, 1 rebs, 3 ast, 0 stl, 1 blk, 2 tov on 3/7 (43% FG) in 16 minutes
Michael Jordan — 38 pts, 5 rebs, 9 ast, 2 stl, 1 blk, 4 tov on 12/25 (48% FG) in 44 minutes

GAME 4 — CAVS WON 97–91

Scottie Pippen — 15 pts, 5 rebs, 0 ast, 0 stl, 2 blk, 3 tov on 7/11 (64% FG) in 30 minutes
Michael Jordan — 44 pts, 5 rebs, 4 ast, 4 stl, 2 blk, 4 tov on 18/25 (72% FG) in 42 minutes

GAME 5 — BULLS WON 107–101

Scottie Pippen — 24 pts, 6 rebs, 5 ast, 3 stl, 0 blk, 3 tov on 10/20 (50% FG) in 39 minutes
Michael Jordan — 39 pts, 4 rebs, 6 ast, 2 stl, 2 blk, 7 tov on 12/22 (55% FG) in 43 minutes

In the very next round Bulls faced Detroit Pistons and in that series Pippen started all 5 games and averaged 9.4 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 2.4 apg, 0.8 spg and 0.6 bpg on 46% FG in 32 mpg. Meanwhile Jordan averaged 27.4 ppg, 8.8 rpg, 4.6 apg, 2 spg, 0.6 bpg on 49% FG in 42 mpg.

GAME 1 — DETROIT WON 93–82

Scottie Pippen — 2 pts, 3 rebs, 1 ast, 1 stl, 0 blk, 1 tov on 1/6 (17% FG) in 23 minutes
Michael Jordan — 29 pts, 11 rebs, 6 ast, 0 stl, 1 blk, 5 tov on 12/22 (55% FG) in 43 minutes

GAME 2 — CHICAGO WON 105–95

Scottie Pippen — 4 pts, 4 rebs, 5 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk, 3 tov on 2/6 (33% FG) in 26 minutes
Michael Jordan — 36 pts, 11 rebs, 1 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk, 2 tov on 14/22 (64% FG) in 44 minutes

GAME 3 — DETROIT WON 101–79

Scottie Pippen — 15 pts, 6 rebs, 1 ast, 0 stl, 0 blk, 2 tov on 7/11 (64% FG) in 32 minutes
Michael Jordan — 24 pts, 7 rebs, 3 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk, 5 tov on 8/20 (40% FG) in 38 minutes

GAME 4 — DETROIT WON 96–77

Scottie Pippen — 15 pts, 7 rebs, 3 ast, 2 stl, 0 blk, 3 tov on 7/14 (50% FG) in 37 minutes
Michael Jordan — 23 pts, 7 rebs, 5 ast, 6 stl, 0 blk, 3 tov on 11/22 (50% FG) in 45 minutes

GAME 5 — DETROIT WON 102–95

Scottie Pippen — 11 pts, 6 rebs, 2 ast, 0 stl, 2 blk, 4 tov on 5/11 (45% FG) in 42 minutes
Michael Jordan — 25 pts, 8 rebs, 8 ast, 2 stl, 0 blk, 3 tov on 10/22 (45% FG) in 43 minutes