Horace Grant Chips In About The LeBron/Jordan Debate

When Scottie Pippen came out and offered his opinion about the greatest NBA player of all time and said LeBron James is better than Michael Jordan, that ignited a firestorm of criticism. Much like Pippen has hit the current edition of the Chicago Bulls with.

LeBron came out and basically told Pippen thanks but no thanks. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar wrote an open letter to the L.A. times and said don't forget about the old school. And now former teammate, Horace Grant is letting Pippen know that he's wrong. 

In an interview on Sportsradiointerviews.com, Grant let his feelings be known about this debate. 

“WOW! Pip is my man and you know we will always be close, but I totally disagree. LeBron is gonna be one of the top players to ever play the game but Michael Jeffrey Jordan, who we bump heads at times is I think in my era the best basketball player to ever play the game.”


And when he was asked if Scottie was holding a grudge against Jordan he had this to say.

“(Laughing) I hope not, I don’t think so, but you know to say that somebody, I mean listen, I’m mean I’m kinda at a loss of words cause Michael Jordan I mean when you win numerous MVPs and you’ve taken the team to six championships and probably could have been eight if he didn’t retire those two years. You know MVP’s and the playoffs and the championships I mean man he made us better, he made believe me, he, myself, Scottie, BJ, even Bill Cartwright who I still love, he made us better players. He gave us that confidence, but first we had to earn his trust and once we earned his trust man you know you saw championship after championship and as far as talent wise, that’s no man. Who do you want to take that last shot when three seconds are left in the game? Who do you want the ball in their hands the last 3 seconds? He proved that he can score the last few seconds of a ball game or if he gets double teamed that Steve Kerr or John Paxson are right there so you know I love Scottie, but I totally disagree.”

“You know this is a great country we live in. You’re entitled to your opinions but your uhh uhh…[Waddle: YOURE WRONG!] Yeah, yeah he’s wrong on this one.”


I gotta agree with Horace on this one. And he said it best when he said Jordan was the best in his era. Which is what i say all the time since it's so tough to compare different eras. Jordan was a truly great player, but there were many before him, so you really can't crown him or anyone for that matter as the greatest of all time.

Pippen Calls Carlos Boozer A Liability

Scottie Pippen has a lot of time on his hands. I guess that's what happens in retirement and not having a job after being let go by the worldwide leader. In his idle time Pippen has found time to analyze the NBA from afar and have a forum to speak on his observations. He seems to still love his former team, the Chicago Bulls, but seems to take issue with the team when he thinks that certain players aren't carrying their weight.

Of course we know that the Bulls never won until Pippen matured as a player and became a solid number two behind Michael Jordan. But he never won after he left Chicago, so trying to paint himself as the ultimate winner kind of puzzles me. If he was the Portland Trailblazers and Houston Rockets would have a few more Larry O'Brien trophies.

Pippen, the king of idle time and criticism, found more time to bash Bulls forward Carlos Boozer . First during the playoff series against the Indiana Pacers, Pippen called out Boozer specifically and his teammates for a lack of toughness and not standing up for star player Derrick Rose.  Now he called Boozer a liability. This after igniting a firestorm for saying that LeBron James is the greatest player of all time and Jordan was the greatest scorer. 

Pippen said that Boozer is the key reason the Bulls didn't advance to the Finals.

"When you're playing at this stage of the playoffs, the best of the best are still there and you have to have guys stepping up," Pippen told ESPNChicago.com. "And I just felt like it finally caught up with the Bulls, who didn't have consistent play from guys who needed to play big down the stretch. When those pieces are not falling into place, you're going to fall out of it.


"You can't have two of your top high-paid players sitting on the bench in the fourth quarter," Pippen said. "And that isn't just last night's game. We have seen this the whole season. So for us to think the Bulls are going to go farther when your high-priced players are not going to carry you and finish games for you ... you're not talking about a championship team.



"You can't hide at this stage of the season. At this point, you have to be able to play through everything because if you're trying to hide a guy or a guy is not performing for you, it's going to show offensively in the playoffs and it's going to be magnified ... We all know Carlos did not play at the level the team needed him to and that that hurt them more than anything because they couldn't rely on him.


"The flagrant foul, the pushing calls, the inability to finish strong around the basket. Now you're a liability. We can't hide you and now we have to take you out of the game."

Here some things I bet you didn't know about the so-called great Scottie Pippen.


Game 6, at home against the Pistons in 1989: Scottie leaves the game after a run in with Bill Laimbeer. He did not return. Bulls lost. Pistons swept the Lakers for the championship.

Game 7 against the Pistons in 1990: Scottie claims to have a migraine. He goes 1-10. Bulls lose. Pistons go on to annihilate Portland for the championship.

1992- Knicks get into Pippen's head for the entire series. MJ comes to his rescue against Oakley, Starks and Xavier McDaniel.

1994- MJ is playing baseball (well, trying to). The Bulls are down 0-2 to the Knicks. In Game 3: 1.8 seconds left, Bulls losing by 2. Pippen refuses to go back into the game after Phil Jackson calls Toni Kukoc's number to take the last shot. Kukoc made the shot and went on to win in OT, keeping the Bulls from going down 0-3. Yet it is Pippen who gets credit for taking the Knicks to 7 games.

Pippen shot 34% in the 1996 Finals

Pippen shot 38% in the 1997 Finals

Pippen shot 36% in the 1998 Finals.

Some sidekick. I could argue that the Bulls won those championships in spite of Pippen rather than because of him. Did Pippen help MJ win. Of course. Because no player wins without help.

Although Pippen was one of the greatest sidekicks of all time, he had moments where he went into "hiding".

From a personal opinion I think Pippen should keep his mouth shut with the rap sheet I just listed above.

The Bulls need another creator on the perimeter ( O.J. Mayo?) to team with Derrick Rose and I think they would be able to keep pace with Miami's big three.

Carlos Boozer Throws The First Stone

Those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. Chicago Bulls forward Carlos Boozer should pay attention to that old adage.

Boozer, who has been called out for his subpar playoff performance has started the war of words between the Miami Heat and Chicago Bulls. In a tweet to Shandel Richardson from the Sun Sentinel , Boozer said the Heat had two great players. Boozer doesn't see Miami's big three as a big three. He clearly sees it as a big two and a third wheel.

Now Bosh wasn't having the greatest playoff against Boston, but stepped it up when he had to. Bosh will have to continue his high level of play if Miami is to beat Chicago. On the other hand Boozer will have to be big in this series, especially since he let off the first verbal shot in the series.   

Scottie Pippen Calls Out Boozer, Bulls For Lack Of Toughness

Isn't this a case of the pot calling the kettle black. Remember back in the late 80s/early 90s when the Chicago Bulls were trying to make the leap to championship contender and couldn't overcome the rough stuff being doled out by the Detroit Pistons. Michael Jordan and Phil Jackson said it was bad for basketball and the Bulls ascended to six championships.

Now with Derrick Rose hobbled by a sprained ankle, Scottie Pippen says it's time for the Bulls to start dishing out some rough stuff of their own. Yes, the same Pippen that claimed a migraine headache in a Game 7 against Detroit. The same Pippen that sat on the bench in the 1994 playoffs because a play wasn't called for him at the end of the game. The same Pippen that was told "get up bitch" by a young Kobe Bryant. Hey pot this is kettle, you're black.

Pippen had the nerve to call out the young Bulls, more specifically Carlos Boozer, about stepping it up in the toughness category and protect Derrick Rose.

‘‘You don’t give up layups in the playoffs,’’ Pippen said. ‘‘You knock a guy down and you make them go to the foul line and earn it. That’s what Derrick’s doing for the Bulls. And to me, it’s an eye for an eye.’’

‘‘They’ve all got two legs and two arms,’’ the six-time NBA champion said. ‘‘You’ve got Carlos Boozer out there who’s spending fouls and a lot of his fouls are not needed at the time that he’s giving them. Those could be hard fouls. Those could be fouls that you knock a [Darren] Collison to the floor, you knock a [Jeff] Foster to the floor.



‘‘Utilize your fouls and make them more valuable for you and your team.’’


That's some sound advice Scott. That's why you're not coaching or analyzing games on the network anymore. Good thing coach Tom Thibodeau has kept their heads straight instead of listening to 'the Pip'.

‘‘It’s playoff basketball,’’ the coach said. ‘‘You have to play hard all the time. You have to have great urgency. And we have to be ready at the start of the game. That’s the big thing. We have to do a better job of starting the game.’’


The Boston Celtics are tough without resorting to thuggery and Thibodeau is patterning the Bulls the same way. You have to be mentally tough in the playoffs, not gooning it up trying to protect teammates and not allowing a layup. Make your presence known, but do it where you're not racking up technicals and fines.  









    

Quote Of The Week: Bill Simmons

Bill Simmons is one of my favorite columnists to keep up with. He always has a good movie/tv reference for a sports moment.

Here he is on Twitter with a reference about the Chicago Bulls.

 I watch the 2011 Bulls with the same "Uh oh, they're hungry" look that Mickey had during Clubber Lang's fights.

Another Strange Sports Injury

We Know He Didn't Get Hurt By Tripping Over The Chair Or Extension Cord

It's kind of comical when you hear about an athlete having a non sports related injury. The latest in hte long line of weird injuries is recent Chicago Bulls signee Carlos Boozer. Boozer recently broke his right hand answering his door. Now he'll have a two month stay on the injured list to start the season. Here's how Boozer explained how it all went down.

 "It happened last night, probably 5:30-6 o'clock at night, got it looked at right away. I find out for sure today when I saw the hand specialist. I'm going to get it done as soon as possible, so Tuesday morning I'm going in early to get the surgery taken care of so I can start my rehab process.




"It was just dark. My doorbell had rang and I tripped over a bag, tried to brace myself and it popped. I jumped back up, opened the door and my hand was still a little bit numb.



"It was a gym bag. It was a big bag I had first thing over here at the hotel for training camp. I went back to my place, hadn't unpacked the bag yet, came around the corner, running to get the door and fell over it. I'm 265, 5 percent body fat. I'm heavy, man. I guess I had to brace myself and my weight just collapsed the bone right there."

If that indeed is true, Carlos should know better than to leave a big bag where it could provide a potential danger. All kids and commofolk know this and so should you. Especially if your injury prone like he is.

Bulls' capspace doesn't land big prizes

Basketball fans you've seen this happen before. A team trades players (salary dump) and gets rid of draft picks to clear salary cap space to land a few big prizes in a bumper crop of free agents. Then no one takes your money and you have to settle for a second tier player on the market. The team that I speak of is the Chicago Bulls. Remember when Michael Jordan retired and Pippen and Rodman parted ways and GM Jerry Krause said "organizations win championships,not players" or something to that effect. They proceeded to clear out scores of cap room and no one came to Chicago. Its almost the same scenario except the cupboard isn't bare and they do have young pieces in place with Derrick Rose, Luol Deng, Taj Gibson, and Joakim Noah, and James Johnson. They signed Carlos Boozer, Ronnie Brewer, and Kurt Thomas. Probably not what they wanted out of free agency, but they were solid pickups. In the process they lost Brad Miller to the Houston Rockets.

I do consider the Bulls to be losers in free agency, but they're a young, up and coming team, so shed no tears for them. To me it looks like Derrick Rose wants to be the man in Chicago and i think he's up to the task. Noah is maturing and becoming a solid player. If Deng can stay healthy and all the pieces click, they will be a contender in the Eastern Conference for years to come.