Larsa Pippen Defends Ex-Husband Scottie After ‘The Last Dance’ Highlights His Contract Woes
While Larsa Pippen is no longer with her ex-husband Scottie, that doesn’t mean she won’t come to his defense if needed. Such an occasion came about following the airing of the first two episodes of the ESPN miniseries The Last Dance, per the Daily Mail. The series focuses on the Chicago Bulls’ 1997-98 season, a year that saw a frustrated Scottie play his final year for the team.
One segment focuses on the source of Scottie’s anger with Bulls’ management, a seven-year, $18 million contract that arguably made him the most underpaid player in the NBA. For comparison, Scottie’s teammate on the Bulls, Michael Jordan, was earning more than $30 million in that same 1997-98 season. Scottie’s less than ideal contract became a topic of conversation on social media as a new generation of basketball fans spoke of the iconic small forward with a mixture of shock and pity. Among those who tweeted on the subject was Bleacher Report’s Aaron West.
“Scottie pippen signed the type of contract you sign when you come from absolutely nothing. he signed for security. he didn’t know ANY better. #TheLastDance.”
While social media was discussing the revelation, Larsa — who was married to Scottie during that season — stepped in and gave her 161,000 Twitter followers a clearer picture of her ex-husband’s financial situation. She thanked everyone for their concern while adding that Scottie did “ok,” attaching a screenshot from a Bleacher Report article. The attached image claims Scottie earned more than $109 million over the course of his career, $20 million more than Jordan.
Thx for your concern Scottie did ok #TheLastDance pic.twitter.com/SFbo04uOLP
— Larsa Pippen (@larsapippen) April 20, 2020
Twitter users didn’t take Larsa’s defense of her ex-husband without comment, as the majority of the responses to her tweet made reference to the rapper Future, who allegedly played a role in the disintegration of their marriage. Larsa married Scottie in 1997 before filing for divorce in 2018, citing “irreconcilable differences.” The couple has four children together.
After leaving Chicago, Scottie would spend his next five seasons playing for the Houston Rockets and Portland Trailblazers. While he would not return to the NBA Finals, Scottie did earn more than $75 million for his efforts during this period, per Basketball-Reference. He would return to the Bulls for his final year, signing a two-year, $10 million deal to close out his career.
ESPN will air the third and fourth parts of The Last Dance on Sunday, April 26. The in-depth look at the final year of the Chicago Bulls dynasty was originally intended to air in the summer, during the NBA Finals. However, the lack of live sporting events — due to the threat posed by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic — prompted ESPN to move up the date in order to fill the void.
