Retired (NBA)

Scottie Pippen joined GQ's Tyler Tynes for an extensive interview prior to the release of his memoir, Unguarded, and opened up about a number of topics from his Hall of Fame career, including Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant.

While his comments about Jordan have already made headlines leading up to the release of the book, there were a number of quick-hitting answers that stood out as well.

Pippen said the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls that won 72 regular-season games should be remembered as better than the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors that won 73 regular-season games because his team won the championship.

"You can't be considered the greatest team," if you don't win a ring he said when referencing Golden State's loss to LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2016 NBA Finals.

Pippen also said the New York Knicks were the team he enjoyed beating the most and his first championship in 1991 is the one he remembers the most fondly in part because the Bulls defeated Magic Johnson and the Los Angeles Lakers.

"I really idolized Magic as a player and a young kid growing up," Pippen said.

The six-time champion also said his favorite current young player is Devin Booker, he would consider coaching but likely won't so he can focus on his children and he would "win a championship in Portland" if he could do one thing differently in his career.

Yet it is the comments about Jordan that figured to stand out since he previously said he isn't particularly close with His Airness anymore and felt disrespected by The Last Dance documentary that chronicled the Bulls' final championship run because it focused so much on No. 23 and not the team.

Pippen suggested he felt like a prop while watching the documentary because it didn't glorify Hall of Famers such as himself, Dennis Rodman and Toni Kukoc and was all about elevating Jordan's legacy.

The seven-time All-Star's focus on team and not individual achievements was never clearer than when he said he would rather have a seventh championship than an MVP because "it would have been a team achievement. I don't chase individual achievements, they chase me."

Still, he said "there's no doubt about that, c'mon" when saying Jordan was the best teammate he ever played with during his career.

He also said Bryant is the one teammate he wishes he could have played alongside and appreciated the way the Laker great reached out to him for advice even after Pippen retired.

"Kobe idolized the way I played the game, the way I defended," Pippen said while calling Bryant "a great student of the game" who even asked about defending his personal idol Jordan and what Pippen would do in such a matchup.

Bryant and Pippen both played for head coach Phil Jackson, so it is not surprising the Bulls legend was an ideal person for Kobe to turn to for various advice throughout his career.

While Pippen may have felt disrespected during The Last Dance and is remembered by some as Jordan's second option on the dynasty Bulls teams, he is one of the best players in NBA history and will further explore a career that featured seven All-NBA selections, 10 All-Defensive selections and six championships in the upcoming memoir.             

All of Charles Oakley's charges against Madison Square Garden have been dismissed.

Daniel Kaplan of The Athletic reported federal judge Richard Sullivan dismissed the charge that MSG security used unnecessary force to remove the former New York Knicks player from a game in February 2017. It was the only one of Oakley's claims that had not been dismissed last year by the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals.

Knicks governor James Dolan asked security to remove Oakley from the arena, and Sullivan seemed to blame the former player for how things unfolded.

"(T)he video footage conclusively shows the MSG guards giving Oakley ample opportunity to leave the arena; the same video also shows that Oakley ignored the guards' entreaties and repeated attempts to direct him toward the exit," the judge wrote. "In fact, the video reveals that it was Oakley who unilaterally escalated the confrontation, leading to his eventual forcible removal."

Sullivan also suggested the reasoning behind Dolan's decision was not important because MSG can evict any of its ticket holders.

"And the undisputed video evidence conclusively demonstrates that the Garden's security guards did not use excessive force as they escorted Oakley from the arena," Sullivan wrote. "... Oakley's previously offered versions of the events are 'so blatantly contradicted by the (video) record ... that no reasonable jury could believe (them).'"

In February 2020, MSG spokeswoman Kim Kerns told Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic that Oakley was no longer banned from the arena after a civil trespass order lapsed in 2018.

Oakley was physically restrained by multiple security guards and police officers before he was arrested for the incident.

He told Dan Gelston of the Associated Press in March 2019 there wasn't much hope for any reconciliation between him and Dolan.

"Why would I want to do it with someone who had me dragged out of the Garden for no reason," Oakley said. "Why would I want a relationship with him? I told him I wasn't happy."

The 57-year-old played for the Knicks for 10 seasons from 1988-89 through 1997-98. He also suited up for the Chicago Bulls, Toronto Raptors, Washington Wizards and Houston Rockets during a career that featured two All-Defensive selections and one All-Star nod.

Scottie Pippen may not have the fondest memories of Michael Jordan during their 10 seasons together as teammates with the Chicago Bulls. 

In an excerpt from his memoir Unguarded serialized in GQ, Pippen recalls being "upset" with Jordan over how he and the other members of the Bulls were portrayed in The Last Dance documentary series:

How dare Michael treat us that way after everything we did for him and his precious brand. Michael Jordan would never have been Michael Jordan without me, Horace Grant, Toni Kukoc, John Paxson, Steve Kerr, Dennis Rodman, Bill Cartwright, Ron Harper, B.J. Armstrong, Luc Longley, Will Perdue, and Bill Wennington. I apologize to anyone I've left out. 

I'm not suggesting Michael wouldn't have been a superstar wherever he ended up. He was that spectacular. Just that he relied on the success we attained as a team—six titles in eight years—to propel him to a level of fame throughout the world no other athlete, except for Muhammad Ali, has reached in modern times.

One key source of Pippen's discontent stems from Jordan having full creative control over the project. 

Specifically, the way the second episode positions him as "nothing more than a prop" to tell the story that Jordan wanted to tell. 

"Even in the second episode, which focused for a while on my difficult upbringing and unlikely path to the NBA, the narrative returned to MJ and his determination to win. I was nothing more than a prop," Pippen wrote. "His 'best teammate of all time,' he called me. He couldn’t have been more condescending if he tried."

Pippen did say he received a text from Jordan asking to speak with him because he was "getting word that you're upset with me." Pippen did respond, saying "let's talk tomorrow." It's not specified in the excerpt if that conversation ever took place. 

The Last Dance was centered around the 1997-98 Bulls season, the final year with Jordan, Pippen and head coach Phil Jackson all together. It also went back to examine the rise of the franchise from the time Jordan was drafted in 1984. 

Despite his differences with Jordan, Pippen remains very proud of what they accomplished in Chicago. He called his time with the Bulls "the most rewarding of my career."

Pippen was drafted No. 5 overall in 1987 by the Seattle SuperSonics, who traded his draft rights to the Bulls. The Arkansas native spent the first 11 seasons of his career with the organization. 

During his time in Chicago, Pippen was a 10-time All-Defensive team selection and seven-time All-Star. He won six NBA titles in an eight-season span from 1990-98. 

The Bulls retired Pippen's No. 33 in 2005. He was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010.    

A Kobe Bryant Upper Deck card from the 2002-03 season recently sold for $922,500 at auction, setting the record price for a non-rookie Kobe card.

The autographed Logo Mania card received a 9 overall grade from Beckett before being placed on the auction block.

Final Sale Price: $922,500

An all-time record for any non-rookie Kobe Bryant card. pic.twitter.com/sPCk889JJY

— Goldin (@GoldinCo) October 24, 2021

A Bryant rookie card sold for $1.8 million in March, setting the overall record for Kobe trading cards.

Collectors have spent increasingly high sums on Bryant memorabilia since his untimely death in a January 2020 helicopter crash.

The Los Angeles Lakers legend was 41.

Vanessa Bryant recounted when she found out about the deaths of her husband, Kobe, and daughter, Gianna, in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26, 2020.

Per Jonathan Abrams and Kevin Draper of the New York Times, Bryant went through the events of that day as part of a deposition stemming from her lawsuit against Los Angeles County.

In the transcript, obtained by Abrams and Draper, Bryant said a family assistant arrived at her house at around 11:30 a.m. local time to inform her that Kobe and Gianna were involved in a helicopter crash.

"The assistant said that five people had survived the crash that day, Jan. 26, 2020. Bryant said that she figured Kobe and Gianna would be among them and would be helping the other victims," wrote Abrams and Draper. "But as she tried to call her husband, notifications began popping up on her phone: R.I.P. Kobe. R.I.P. Kobe."

Bryant said she attempted to secure a helicopter that would be able to take her to the site, but she wound up receiving a car ride from Los Angeles Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka after being informed she couldn't obtain a helicopter because flying was unsafe at that time due to weather conditions in the area.

At the time Bryant was attempting to get on a helicopter, she said she still had not received word that Kobe and Gianna had died.

Bryant said that after the hour-and-45-minute car trip with Pelinka to the Malibu sheriff's station, "no one would answer" when she asked about her husband and daughter.

Bryant said it was only after a long wait that L.A. County Sheriff Alex Villanueva and a pastor spoke with her to confirm that Kobe and Gianna died.

"And I said: 'If you can't bring my husband and baby back, please make sure that no one takes photographs of them. Please secure the area,'" Bryant said in the deposition. "And he [Villanueva] said: 'I will.' And I said: 'No, I need you to get on the phone right now and I need you to make sure you secure the area.'"

The deposition, which took place Oct. 12, is part of Bryant's lawsuit against L.A. County. She filed the suit in September 2020, claiming L.A. County sheriff's deputies shared unauthorized pictures from the crash site, including graphic images of the victims.

Attorneys for L.A. County filed a motion last week requesting that plaintiffs in the lawsuit, including Bryant, undergo an independent psychiatric examination "to evaluate the existence, extent and nature of Plaintiffs' alleged emotional injuries."

According to Abrams and Draper, Bryant said in the deposition that Villanueva "reassured" her the area had been secured.

In a March 2020 report by Alene Tchekmedyian and Paul Pringle of the Los Angeles Times, a complaint was filed against an L.A. County sheriff's deputy who was accused of showing graphic photos from the helicopter crash site at a restaurant in Norfolk.

Kobe and Gianna were among nine people killed in the crash in Calabasas, California. The helicopter was en route to Newbury Park for a basketball game at the Mamba Sports Academy.

Phoenix Suns guard Chris Paul provided a positive update on former teammate JR Smith after the latter stepped on a beehive during his first college golf tournament for North Carolina A&T on Tuesday. 

In an interview with USA Today's Chris Bumbaca, Paul said Smith is alright, but the incident "scared [Smith] to death."

"Yeah, yeah (laughs) he's all right, scared him to death though. Scared me to death too when I saw the video," Paul said. "He's all right now. I think (former NFL wide receiver) Larry Fitzgerald told him the best thing he could tell him. He said, 'There ain't never no bee hives in the fairway.' Stay in the fairway, he ain't got to worry about that."

J.R. Smith got attacked by yellow jackets on the course in his first college golf tournament 😳

He had to get medical treatment but was able to finish his round

(via @jbunder12)
pic.twitter.com/Fq9VCCkBqB

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 13, 2021

Smith was playing on the 12th hole at the Elon Phoenix Invitational in Burlington, North Carolina, when the incident occurred. The 36-year-old reportedly went into the woods to find his ball when he stepped on the beehive. 

Smith finished the 12th hole with a double bogey and recorded scores of 78 and 83 during the first two rounds of the tournament. 

Los Angeles county is trying to make Vanessa Bryant take a psychiatric exam as part of its defense against her lawsuit for invasion of privacy and negligence.

Per USA Today's Brent Schrotenboer, the county is seeking a court order to force Bryant and other surviving family members of the helicopter crash that killed nine people to take the exams in an attempt to show they suffered emotional distress from the crash itself, and not because county fire and sheriff's department employees shared photos of their dead relatives afterward.

Kobe and Gianna Bryant were among the people killed in the crash in Calabasas, California, on Jan. 26, 2020.

Vanessa filed a lawsuit against the Los Angeles County sheriff in September 2020. The suit said that multiple deputies shared unauthorized photos from the scene of the crash. Bryant's attorney, Luis Li, said in a statement at the time:

This lawsuit is about accountability and about preventing this disgraceful behavior from happening to other families in the future who have suffered loss. The department formally refused Mrs. Bryant's requests for information saying it was 'unable to assist' with any inquiry and had no legal obligation to do so. It's now for a court to tell the department what its obligations are.

In a statement filed in federal court last month in response to Bryant's lawsuit, Los Angeles county contended that the "plaintiffs' emotional distress was not caused by (the county defendants), who have neither published nor publicly disseminated any accident site photographs."

In response to the attempt to compel exams, the attorneys for Bryant and other plaintiffs said the county has "resorted to scorched-earth discovery tactics designed to bully Plaintiffs into abandoning their pursuit of accountability."

Bryant's lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages.

The helicopter was taking Kobe and Gianna, along with six others, to a basketball game at the Mamba Sports Academy.

The National Transportation Safety Board determined the probable cause of the crash was from spatial disorientation due to the pilot flying the helicopter into thick clouds that led to a loss of control of the aircraft.

J.R. Smith will make his collegiate golf debut for North Carolina A&T next Monday at the Phoenix Invitational hosted by Elon, according to the Associated Press. 

The former NBA player qualified for the tournament in practice by one stroke, putting him in the field for the two-day event at Alamance Country Club in Burlington, North Carolina.

Smith is best known for his 16-year professional basketball career that featured two NBA titles. He went directly from high school to the NBA and was picked 18th in the 2004 draft.

That allowed him to maintain college eligibility, which he is utilizing as a freshman walk-on at North Carolina A&T. The 36-year-old now hopes his basketball experience can translate to the golf course.

"I just know how to compete with myself," Smith said in August, per Aaron Beard of the Associated Press. "As being a shooter and with golf, it correlates to trying to hit different shots and your creativity, and that swing and try to have that flow and tempo."

Monday will represent his first big test with the Aggies. 

Former NBA forward Lamar Odom defeated actor and producer Ojani Noa via decision for the Celebrity Boxing World Heavyweight Championship on Saturday.

Odom (6'10", 230 pounds, 82" reach) had the significant height, weight and reach edge over Noa (6'1", 200 pounds, 74" reach). That clearly helped Odom win this fight, as evidenced by these highlights.

.@RealLamarOdom using that serious height advantage and working the jab on @OjaniNoaOficial.#CelebrityBoxing

[ LIVE NOW ON #FITE | https://t.co/UD5fTcCKlY ] pic.twitter.com/ia3dZvCQgQ

— TrillerTV (@Triller_TV) October 3, 2021

Do you think @RealLamarOdom has done enough to win the fight?#CelebrityBoxing

[ LIVE NOW ON #FITE | https://t.co/UD5fTcCKlY ] pic.twitter.com/c9pNzdhU7k

— TrillerTV (@Triller_TV) October 3, 2021

The Noa-Odom bout served as the main event for an Official Celebrity Boxing card at the James L. Knight Center in Miami. It was a co-feature clash alongside a fight between retired professional boxer “Magic Man” Paulie Malignaggi and TikToker Corey B. Malignaggi, which Paulie won by decision.

Odom was originally scheduled to face 54-year-old former heavyweight boxing champion Riddick Bowe.

Per TMZ Sports, that plan was scrapped after ex-boxing heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield lost via first-round TKO to former UFC fighter Vitor Belfort. The 58-year-old was unable to defend himself en route to an ugly defeat, leading to safety concerns.

Celebrity Boxing founder Damon Feldman made the call to pull Bowe, and Noa took his place.

Chris Webber is investing in his hometown.

According to Adrienne Roberts of the Detroit Free Press, the Hall of Famer broke ground Tuesday on the Webber Wellness Compound. The 180,000-square-foot, $50 million facility located in Detroit will serve as a cannabis "compound" and feature a marijuana operations and training facility, a cultivation facility, a dispensary and a cannabis consumption lounge.

Roberts noted the first phase will be done by March with the second one eventually expanding it by 80,000 square feet and totaling a $125 million investment.

"Tuesday's announcement represents the first tangible step after a $100 million private equity cannabis fund was launched in February to invest in Black- and minority-owned businesses and brands in the cannabis sector," Roberts wrote. "Webber, Willis and Jason Wild of JW Asset Management, a hedge fund with more than $1 billion in assets under management, launched the fund."

Webber was born in Detroit and attended high school in the area.

He remained in the state of Michigan when he played collegiately with the Wolverines and went on to a dominant career in the NBA that included stops on the Golden State Warriors, Washington Bullets/Wizards, Sacramento Kings, Philadelphia 76ers and Detroit Pistons.

He was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame as part of its 2021 class.