In his memoir, Unguarded, Scottie Pippen wrote that Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James is “the greatest player this game has ever seen.” The Chicago Bulls legend said Michael Jordan “ruined basketball” because he didn’t pass the ball enough, which was a terrible take since MJ averaged more assists than Pippen.

Pippen has been bashing Jordan ever since The Last Dance docuseries came out in April 2020. The six-time champion was insulted by how he and his former teammates were portrayed in the documentary, and he’s using his book to get some type of revenge against Jordan by praising Lebron, the player many consider Jordan’s closest competition in the GOAT debate.

Scottie Pippen: LeBron James is the ultimate teammate

During an interview with Jason Duaine Hahn of People Magazine, Pippen talked about why he believes LeBron is the ultimate teammate.

“I just used him as an example of how he embodies how the game should be played,” Pippen said about LeBron. “He’s the ultimate teammate. His physicality, his knowledge of the game, the way that he plays the game, his style, his charisma. That’s it, LeBron James.”

Pippen was an excellent all-around player during his career. He could score, pass and defend at a high level. The Bulls icon makes it seem like Jordan wasn’t, though, and that’s completely incorrect. Pippen has career averages of 16.1 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 5.2 assists, while Jordan put up 30.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 5.3 assists per game.

Pippen is clearly upset at Jordan over how The Last Dance turned out. However, it’s easy to see why he’s such a big fan of LeBron’s game.

LeBron James has a lot of Scottie Pippen in him

Pippen was an elite small forward who could grab a defensive rebound, push the ball up the court and finish in heavy traffic. LeBron has been doing that ever since he entered the NBA in 2003. Pip and LBJ are two of the greatest “point forwards” in NBA history, and the former admires the latter because he’s a team-first player.

LeBron is the lone player in NBA history to rank top-10 all-time in points and assists. He has career averages of 27.0 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 7.4 assists and is fifth all-time in triple-doubles. Jordan is a better scorer than LeBron since he’s first in NBA history in points per game. However, the numbers show that the King is the superior all-around player.

Pippen didn’t like that The Last Dance glorified Jordan while not giving enough credit to him and his teammates. He also wants people to know that championships are won by a team, not by a single player. The Hall of Famer clearly likes that LeBron is a pass-first player who puts his teammates in positions to be successful since that’s how he played the game.

However, it is interesting that Pippen is praising LeBron now since it was only two years he was criticizing the four-time champion for not having the clutch gene like Jordan and Kobe Bryant.

Pip: The King doesn’t have that “clutch gene” like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant

At All-Star weekend in 2019, Pippen said LeBron didn’t have the clutch gene like Jordan and Bryant. The Arkansas native stated it was unfair to compare LeBron to Jordan since the latter always wanted to take the last shot.

This is yet another bad take by Pippen. Why? Because LeBron has the most playoff buzzer-beaters in NBA history.

The GOAT debate between Jordan and LeBron will likely never end. Pippen has basically changed his mind on the topic for the last decade. He’s called Jordan the GOAT several times and LeBron the best ever multiple times as well.

Pippen may just go with LeBron as his GOAT now for good, though, since he’s angry at Jordan over The Last Dance.