Scottie Pippen reignites his feud with Michael Jordan as he aims brutal dig at ex-teammate in new soda commercial

Scottie Pippen has taken aim at former Chicago Bulls teammate Michael Jordan over his ‘decade-long marketing plot’ in a fiery new commercial.

Pippen and Jordan enjoyed historic success together in Chicago, where they captured six NBA Championships as the driving forces of one of the greatest teams in basketball history.

In recent years, however, their relationship has become fractured ever since the release of ESPN’s 2020 docuseries ‘The Last Dance’, which chronicled MJ’s iconic career and his journey with the Bulls.

After being left unimpressed with his own portrayal in the show, and insisting it gave far too much credit to Jordan, Pippen ignited a feud with his legendary teammate by instead claiming he was a ‘very difficult person to deal with’ back in the day.

Now the seven-time NBA All-Star has fired shots at Jordan once again in a commercial for Mr. Pibb – the spiced cherry-flavored soda brand that was originally launched as a competitor to Dr. Pepper back in 1972.

‘Let’s set the record straight about Pibb,’ he initially said while cleverly playing on his own ‘Pipp’ nickname.

Pippen then referenced the widespread opinion that he was Jordan’s sidekick in Chicago.

‘When you think about Pibb, you think of what? Second best?’ he continued. ‘When something has been considered second-best for so long, we just blindly accept it as gospel.

‘A decade-long plot built on marketing, social media, and multi-part documentaries. Yeah, I said it. Pibb is a GOAT, don’t correct me.’

While their rift has inevitably made headlines, Pippen stressed last year that he and Jordan were never that close to begin with.

He confessed that the only time he’d spend in MJ’s presence came on the court and, while they may have attended social engagements together as Bulls teammates, they never spent any time one-on-one together.

‘I guess the last three championships that we won, we trained together at his house, but other than that, we didn’t really put a lot of time in away from basketball,’ Pippen explained. ‘Most of our time was spent whether we were working out or on the practice floor.’

The duo’s relationship also appeared to take a further hit when Pippen’s ex-wife Larsa began dating Jordan’s son Marcus, who was 17 years younger. They recently split and apparently are no longer on speaking terms.

Pippen opened up on his fractured friendship with Jordan in his 2021 book ‘Unguarded,’ but admitted the blame for the breakdown wasn’t entirely on his teammate.

‘I don’t usually allow our lack of closeness to bother me,’ he wrote. ‘I have plenty of friends. Yet there are occasions, and watching the doc was definitely one when I think about the relationship I wish the two of us had, and it hurts. It hurts a lot. 

‘By no means am I an innocent party here. I missed some openings that might have made a difference, and I have to live with that.’

Pippen also alluded to choosing not to reach out to Jordan when the news of his father’s 1993 murder emerged. He wrote: ‘I feel horrible every time I think about it. Michael’s father, James Jordan, had been murdered.

‘The two were inseparable. When I heard the news, I should have reached out to Michael right away. Having lost my own dad three years before, I might have been able to offer Michael some comfort. To this day, he and I haven’t spoken about his father’s death.’