Former Chicago Bulls player Scottie Pippen has labelled his former coach Phil Jackson as a racist. Pippen believes that Jackson’s decision to hand Kukoc the final shot instead of him was racially motivated.
In the Eastern Conference Finals of 1993-94 NBA Season, Chicago Bulls faced the New York Knicks in a grueling series that lasted till Game 7. During the series, when it went down the wire, Jackson drew up a play and turned towards Kukoc to make a buzzer-beating shot.
Scottie Pippen was not pleased with this call as he led the side in the absence of Michael Jordan. The Hall Of Famer ultimately decided to sit out during the final seconds of the game.
Kukoc eventually went on to beat the buzzer and take the team to victory. While Pippen had apologized to his teammates over his actions, he had mentioned in the documentary “Last Dance”, that if such an instance presents itself in front of him again, he would do the exact same thing.
However, the former player has now taken out the buried incident and stirred things up by accusing the renowned coach of racist behavior.
The 55-year-old was a guest on the Dan Patrick Show on Monday where he elaborated his version of events.
DP: “.. By saying it was a racial move then you’re calling Phil Jackson a racist…”
Pippen: “I don’t have a problem with that.”
DP: “Do you think Phil was?”
Pippen: “Oh yeah…”
Pippen also added that Jackson was a different person away from the cameras, which apparently does not show his racist side.
“I was in the locker room with him, I was in practices with him—you’re looking at him from afar,” Pippen said.
Pippen had initially made the claim through an interview with GQ, where he had said
“I been through all the ups and downs, the battles with the Pistons and now you gonna insult me and tell me to take it out? I thought it was a pretty low blow,” Pippen said. “I felt like it was an opportunity to give (Kukoc) a rise. It was a racial move to give him a rise.”
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