Charles Oakley is friends with Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, so he’s been put in a little bit of an awkward position since Pippen has been bashing Jordan left and right ever since The Last Dance docuseries came out in April 2020.

In his book, Unguarded, Pippen wrote that The Last Dance glorified Jordan too much and didn’t credit him and his other Chicago Bulls teammates who helped the franchise win six championships in an eight-year span enough. The former small forward also said MJ “ruined basketball.”

While Oakley knows that Pippen felt mistreated in the docuseries, he believes the Arkansas native is upset with Jordan over something else besides The Last Dance.

Charles Oakley talks about Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen

During an interview with Jack Green of Betway Insider, Oakley talked about Jordan, Pippen, and The Last Dance docuseries. The one-time All-Star didn’t say what happened, but he believes there is more to the Jordan-Pippen feud than just The Last Dance.

“I know everybody thinks it’s some feud from The Last Dance. I think it’s something else that happened,” Oakley said. “We don’t know, but one day we will find out. I don’t think Scottie would just turn from all this from The Last Dance. Some stuff happened 10, 20 years ago, but now he’s got a platform to talk about it, but he did say he wants to have his last say about The Last Dance, so who knows what’s going on?”

Oakley revealed that Jordan isn’t going to react to any of Pippen’s comments about him. The six-time Finals MVP is likely too busy since he’s the Charlotte Hornets’ majority governor and has many other businesses to manage. Oakley also said that Pippen feels like he was a better player than Jordan, which is mind-boggling.

Charles Oakley on Scottie Pippen: He feels like he’s better than Michael Jordan

In Episode 2 of The Last Dance, Oakley said that Pippen told his teammates he was going to be better than Jordan as a rookie. Apparently, Pip still feels that way, even though the rest of the world doesn’t.

“He feels like he’s better than Mike,” Oakley said. “He said it back then. A lot of people just didn’t hear him say it. If you asked 100 people who’s better, 99 are going to say Michael Jordan, so [Scottie’s] the one. There’s always one, right?”

Oakley also mentioned that Pippen has been through a lot since his playing career ended. His wife has supposedly had several affairs, and he tragically lost one of his sons.

“Scottie went through a lot as time passed. Stress can put you in a different place,” Oakley said. “He said something about Phil Jackson. I think he apologized about that, but sometimes you get in the heat of battle, you know, and that’s why you’ve got to be careful when you do interviews and talk to people because they dig.”

Jordan and Pippen are the best duo in NBA history. They went 6-0 in the Finals and three-peated twice. The Bulls legends may not be friends anymore, but there is no denying how incredible their chemistry was on the basketball court.

Bulls icons were always in sync

Jordan and Pippen played in 691 regular-season games together. The Bulls won 514 games with their dynamic duo leading the way and only lost 177. Jordan averaged 31.5 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 5.6 assists next to Pippen, while Pippen put up 17.1 points, 6.4 rebounds, 5.3 assists, and 2.0 steals per game alongside Jordan.

In Episode 2 of The Last Dance, Jordan called Pippen his best teammate of all time. Remember, Jordan never won a playoff series without Pippen. The 1991 Finals series against the Los Angeles Lakers also turned in the Bulls’ favor once Phil Jackson put Pippen on Magic Johnson. Jordan may be the GOAT, but he certainly needed Pippen to reach that status.

It will be interesting to see if Oakley tries to connect Jordan and Pippen moving forward. If Metta World Peace and Ben Wallace can squash their beef after the Malice At The Palace, Jordan and Pippen should be able to square things out as well.