• Beyond 'The Last Dance'.The Shadows of Michael Jordan

The second chapter of The Last Dance , the documentary that tells the last season of Michael Jordan's Bulls , focuses on the figure of Scottie Pippen . The forward, a vital part of the dynasty, was ready to leave in 1997. He is the best squire in history, perhaps the best outside defender of all time, but in that NBA there were 121 players who charged more than him. How was it possible?

Pippen paid dearly for the mistake he made in 1991, when he signed a seven-year contract. He still had two more years on his contract, but television money was shooting up the market and he demanded a raise. The Bulls offered it to him in exchange for extending it until 1998. Although his agents advised him not to, Pippen agreed.

To understand it, you have to know its origins. Pippen was the youngest of 12 brothers and the head of the family had remained in a wheelchair when he was still very young. His agent, Jimmy Sexton, confessed that he did not know what true poverty was until he first visited that two-room shack in deep Arkansas where 12 people lived.

In addition, when he signed he had long had back problems and feared that his career was too short. Pippen needed to secure the future of his family.

According to Hoopshype data, in 1992 Scottie Pippen was the eighth highest-paid player in the NBA, something very consistent with his status. However, thanks to the explosion in popularity that his own Bulls fueled, the league's salary cap grew 226% over the seven-year contract. For 1997 it was 122nd.

Facing Jerry Krause

Scottie Pippen's contract soon fell below the market price. And it hurt even more to see that a year after arriving, Toni Kukoc was already charging little less than Jordan. But Jerry Krause , the architect of those Bulls - and a capital figure, despite not doing well in The Last Dance - never wanted to renew it again.

The best opportunity came in 1995, when a new television contract flooded the market, but Krause took advantage of that money to round up a historic roster. It was that summer when he was traded to Will Perdue by Dennis Rodman - with the approval of Pippen, who had been at odds with him since those pitched battles against the Bad Boys. With the rest he signed Randy Brown , a base that would pass without penalty or glory.

The main reason for the confrontation was that contract, but not the only one. Krause had been about to pierce him several times. First, to the Seattle Supersonics in 1994 for Shawn Kemp and Ricky Pierce ; and above all, on the night of the 1997 draft.

Pippen only had one more year left on his contract and, on the verge of turning 32 and Krause was already ruling out any renewal. To the contrary, the Bulls' roster was too veteran and Krause thought he could use it to start a rebuild - he tried to transfer it to the Boston Celtics for No. 3 in the draft or the Toronto Raptors for Tracy McGrady .

A few years ago McGrady himself revealed that this transfer was about to be completed but he was vetoed in Jordan as soon as he found out about Krause's intentions.

The reconciliation'

In 1997 Pippen was determined to leave the Bulls. So much so that, as recalled in the documentary, he delayed an operation on his foot until the preseason in order to go on vacation. He would miss the first months of the course, but it would be perfect for when he signed for a new team.

Jordan had read the market better and since 1996 had been signing single-season contracts. That year he charged 11 times more than Pippen. The Bulls, as we have said, did not want to renew it because they wanted to rebuild the team, but they did help him sign a good contract at age 33.

In January 1999, after the NBA lockout, Pippen left the Rockets through a sign-and-trade: The Bulls signed him a $ 67 million contract for four seasons - triple what he had earned in the 10 first years of his career, plus another 15 in incentives - to then transfer it. If he had gone straight to the Rockets, he could have signed for a maximum of $ 45 million.

It wouldn't be the last gesture the Bulls tried to make up for the injustice Pippen suffered. At the end of his career in 2003, his former partner John Paxson , who had replaced Krause as general manager, signed him a final $ 10 million contract for two seasons. Pippen would only play 23 games before retiring.

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