Some of Michael Jordan's former teammates are unhappy with how they were portrayed in ESPN's The Last Dance docu-series on the championship Chicago Bulls teams of the 1990s.
First, Horace Grant publicly voiced his displeasure with being painted as the source who fed private information to Sam Smith for his 1992 book, The Jordan Rules.
Now, Hall-of-Famer Scottie Pippen has an issue with the way he was portrayed in the Jordan documentary.
Pippen reportedly hasn't spoken to his former teammate since the first episode aired on April 19. He was later described as "beyond livid" on ESPN Radio for the way he was made to look.
"[Pippen] felt like, up until the last few minutes of Game 6 against the Jazz [in the 1998 NBA Finals], it was just 'bash Scottie, bash Scottie, bash Scottie'," says David Kaplan of ESPN 1000 in Chicago.
The issue stems from Pippen's decision to undergo ankle surgery at the start of the 1997/98 NBA season, instead of during the offseason. He delayed his surgery to prove a point - Pippen felt he was far more valuable to the Bulls than the five-year, $US18-million deal he signed.
But in the documentary, Jordan slams Pippen for waiting until the beginning of the season.
"I thought Scottie was being selfish, worrying about himself, instead of what his word was to the organisation and to the team," he says.
Bulls legend Dennis Rodman came to Pippen's defence and said he should be remembered as one of the two or three best players to play the game.
"Scottie was so underrated - and so underpaid," Rodman has told ESPN. "He should be holding his head up higher than Michael Jordan in this documentary.
"I think a lot of people are now realising what he went through. The kid was a hero, in a lot of ways, during those great Bulls runs."
Pippen isn't a top-three player of all-time - LeBron James and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar have something to say about that - but there's no question he was wildly underpaid for his role in each of the Bulls' six championship rings.
There's also no question that he put himself in the predicament he was in, choosing long-term stability in a five-year deal, instead of heeding the advice of Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf, who told him not to sign the contract.
In the Jordan doc, Reinsdorf says he warned Pippen not to sign the contract and also told him not to ask to renegotiate if he did.
Grant also had a gripe with Jordan for what he says is a huge lie - that Jordan took his food away on a flight after a bad game.
"Anybody [who] knows me, as a rookie, if anybody comes up and tries to snatch my food away, I'm going to do my best to beat their ass," Grant says. "And believe me, back then, I could have took MJ in a heartbeat.
"Yes, it's true that he told the flight attendant, 'Well, don't give him anything, because he played like crap', and I went right back at him.
"I said some choice words that I won't repeat here, but I said some choice words and stood up - 'If you want it, you come and get it'- and of course, he didn't move.
"He was just barking, but that was the story."
The next Bulls dynasty reunion should be an interesting one.
DPA
