Photo Credit: Dan Patrick Show
Scottie Pippen appeared on the Dan Patrick Show today and had a full on tangent about former NBA coach Phil Jackson calling him a racist. This actually started last week and when the ex-Chicago Bulls great was unloading on his former team. And he decided to double down on his claims of him being a racist.
First, Pippen called Jackson’s decision to set up a game-winning play for rookie Toni Kukoc in the 1994 playoffs a “racial move.” Patrick said, “By saying a ‘racial move,’ then you’re calling Phil Jackson a racist.” Pippen said, “I don’t got a problem with that.” Patrick asked him if he thought he was or is a racist and he said, “Oh yeah.”
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…”
Exchange with @ScottiePippen on Phil’s decision to have Kukoc take final shot against the Knicks pic.twitter.com/pH2aDLMDcQ
— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) June 28, 2021
While not giving specifics, Pippen did say that Jackson’s decision to write a tell all about Kobe bashin him after leaving the Lakers in 2004 only to return a year later had racist connotation to it. “Who would do that?” Pippen said. “You name someone in professional sports that would do that. I think he got to expose Kobe in a way that he shouldn’t have. You’re the head coach. You’re the guy that sits in the locker room and tells the players, ‘This is a circle, and everything stays within the circle’ because that’s what team is about.”
Pippen then added, “But, you as the head coach open it up and now you go out and you try to belittle at that time, probably one of the greatest players in the game.” Then when Jackson said that what he described as being a question of his loyalty and not racial views. Pippen quipped back saying, “I was in the locker room with him. I was in practices with him. You’re looking at him from afar.”
This interview brought a lot of varied responses from people saying how could a coach who brought so much success to a team possibly be racist and others lumping Critical Race Theory into it. The latter we’re not going to address because most discussions involving the term are used incorrectly anyway. As for a successful coach not possibly being racist… that’s nonsense. You can run a successful company and hate the identity of every person working for you. I mean, didn’t plantations operate in a similar manner? Of course NBA players are paid but the same principle of working without being obligated to care for anyone below you is there.
We’ll see if a response comes from Jackson and if Pippen gives any more details about his experiences working with him.
