Hitman's Shades
Pro
As someone that lived through those 6 chips and even before, when the Bulls couldn't beat the Pistons, Scottie's legacy is complicated. Scottie is a great player, but he and the rest of the Bulls ALWAYS lived in Jordan's shadow. It was always "Michael Jordan and the Jordannaires" instead of the Chicago Bulls and MJ calling the team "his supporting cast" if you are old enough to remember. The team got no respect from the old heads before them, as many of them felt that they weren't a great team, but rather only that they had 1 great player. Scottie was always kind of coming off awkward, soft, bizarre, and saying inflammatory stuff. Scottie got lit up in the 80s by local media saying Chicago was biased in disliking black players, which Jordan denied and brought up how Dave Corzine was booed out the building. Back in the day, there were also rumors in like one of the National Inquirer or Star papers that interviewed a dude that said he was in relationship with Pip and he was closeted. Those rumors would get repeated by opposing players (like the Pistons) also helped play into the fact that he was soft. Scottie played 4 minutes in game 7 1990 against the Pistons which they lost. While he said he had a migraine, many people thought he was just scared, as Mark Aguirre trash talked him about having dudes that would see him outside the old Chicago Stadium. The summer before 1990-1991 him and Jordan "gained muscle mass (you take that however you want)" and came back and swept the Pistons and won the chip, but it was all about MJ. Everybody else on that team were just there in the eyes of the media and fans. When Pip made the Dream Team in 1992, both 'Nique and Mullin could have made an argument they deserved it over him. Many people thought he was just there because MJ wanted him there. All of the Bulls thought they were a real team and although they all respected MJ, they hated him getting ALL the credit from the media, old head players, etc. When JM retired in 1993-1994, Scottie was an MVP candidate, got BJ and Horace to the all star game, was the All Star MVP with the cornrow fat in his head (he never went bald again), but his WORST moment was sitting out in the playoff game in NY. In fairness, MJ should NEVER have spoken on it in the Last Dance, as he wasn't on the team, and really it didn't even have to be in the doc. But again, in fairness, Cartwright was the OG on that team and checked Scottie in the locker room that night, and the team got over it, mainly because he was a loved teammate and they ALL new why Scottie did that, even if it was the absolute wrong time. That's why it never killed his career, because the guys on that team loved him and knew what was up even though he was wrong. Scottie wanted his opportunity to be the man and prove his doubters wrong and Phil gave it to Kukoc, so he pouted. It is what it is. That play sums up Scottie's career, because he was always #2 and never took an opportunity to be a #1 in his prime, and Phil didn't believe in him with the game on the line. So I think that haunts him to this day, as he is a beta dude that tried to be an alpha and came up short, instead of being happy in his role. He always get shyt on when saying "Oh he's Jordan and you get to be the Pippen", like it's an insult. Even at his number retiring ceremony, Phil shytted on him there (look it up). So the Last Dance brought all of that stuff up and even though his words are his, MJ was the lead producer so he blames him for how he looked to the public and the old stuff coming back to light on how he handled things less than admirable. That doc shytted on him, bringing up the 1990 migraine, the 1994 sit out, and the delay of back surgery in 1997-1998. You add Scottie becoming a weedhead, the issues with his wife (which for some reason he will never divorce) and maaaaybe drinking too much, and BOOM.
they released one part which was the documentary then released a whole nother part that was just Jordan himself talking about Longley.
he's just too rich and arrogant to care. People love Scumbag Mike but nobody else can get away with it. Literally the only person on earth other than Mike that is as big of an unapologetic a$$hole as him is Trump and if he was never president he'd probably be universally praised too. That's just the truth.
