Dennis Rodman, Michael Jordan, and Scottie Pippen are the undeniable GOAT trio of the NBA. The Bulls’ “Big 3” dominated the late ’90s in the most dominating era of the franchise’s history. Their unmatched chemistry on the hardwood not only paved the way for the Bulls’ “three-peat,” but their off-court personalities have given birth to many absorbing tales for NBA fans.
However, things were starkly different between the trio once the games ended. To keep the three giants together, Phil Jackson had his own way of managing. One such trick was applied to Rodman and Pippen, leading to a remarkable documentary-worthy interaction.
Dennis Rodman once apologized to Scottie Pippen
The NBA legend Dennis Rodman has revealed the condition he had to forcefully follow prior to joining the Chicago Bulls in 1995. The 62-year-old forward, who was never on good terms with the former Bulls star Scottie Pippen, had once left him with a terrible injury.
In a nerve-racking game of Eastern Conference Finals (1991) between the rivals, Chicago Bulls and Detroit Pistons, Rodman, the then-Pistons forward, had badly hurt Pippen. His wounds were so serious that he had to get six stitches.
About the incident, Rodman said, “At the time, I was frustrated. Our team was losing, so I said, ‘Screw it’. I wasn’t trying to hurt him. We were at that point where we knew we couldn’t beat Chicago — our time had come and gone — so we kind of surrendered the whole thing in the fourth quarter.”
Phil Jackson, the Bulls head coach back then had made Rodman forcefully apologize to Pippen, who was disappointed with the 2-time NBA DPOY (Defensive Player of the Year) winner’s arrival at the franchise. To resolve their differences and perform better as a team, Rodman apologized.
Dennis said, “Phil told me if I wanted to be part of the team, I had to go inside and apologise to Scottie.” In response to his apology Pippen just said, “It’s all good man.” The 5-time NBA Champion confirmed the incident last year on VLAD TV.
Rodman never talked to Michael Jordan, Pippen
In a discussion with ESPN regarding Michael Jordan’s documentary series ‘The Last Dance’ Hall of Famer Dennis Rodman spoke about his sour relationship with MJ. If Jordan and Pippen were the offensive pillars of the team, then Rodman helped the team with his skilful defense and rebounding abilities. Their phenomenal bond on-court made the team stronger but little did anyone know about their off-court rift.
Rodman said how they never spoke even when they went to a restaurant and the only time they spoke was in a game. He said, “I never talked to Mike and Scottie.” He continued, “I didn’t live in Michael’s and Scottie’s shadow, I was there to do rebound…To win championships. I did my thing off the court.”
Rodman won three NBA Championships with the Bulls in 1996, 1997, and 1998, along with MJ and Pippen. The unknown dynamic of the Bulls’ trio, the “Big 3,” is hard to believe, but to all of them, the only thing that mattered was winning, which they did with flawless execution.
