Perfect Pippen: 'Barkley was fat, Hakeem was old' as reasons for 1998 Rockets Failure

“I went to Houston to help Charles Barkley win a championship”: Scottie Pippen cites the Phoenix MVPs lack of dedication and a diminished Hakeem Olajuwon for the failure of the 1997-98 Rockets super team
ARJUN JULKA
12/11/2021


Bulls veteran Scottie Pippen talks about why the 1997-98 Houston Rockets super team was a failure. Pippen cited an old Hakeem Olajuwon and Charles Barkley’s lack of dedication as the prime reasons.

Six-time NBA champion Scottie Pippen is leaving no stone unturned in opening old wounds in the light of his memoir’s release. During a recent interview with SiriusXM NBA Radio, Pippen addressed why the superteam in Houston didn’t work according to his expectations.

"It's true that Jordan was the face of the Bulls, but the real truth was, I was the leader and talent leader and getting women leader. You just had to stoke Jordan's ego like a little baby. I did what I had to do to win. True leaders take a backseat to their subordinates..."​

Pippen’s tenure in the Bulls ended on a bitter note. The Hall of Famer didn’t share a great relationship with the front office, especially GM Jerry Krause. Pippen had several issues relating to his contract with the team. Thus when Michael Jordan retired in 1998, the Bulls decided to rebuild, and traded Pippen to the Houston Rockets.

In what many believed, the Rockets were immediate championship contenders after they acquired Pippen. The super team had the likes of Hakeem Olajuwon and Charles Barkley on its roster.

"It looked like I quit in the Eastern Conference Semifinals in 1994, but the truth was, Jordan was distraught and living in the back of my cherry 1996 Honda Civic. I had to help him snap out of it by appearing to lose..."​

Also read: “Scottie Pippen was elite, but he ain’t no Michael Jordan”: Stephen A. Smith slams Pippen for downplaying MJ’s flu game

"I said to Michael in the 1995 Eastern Conference Semifinals, which everyone knows we lost because Jordan was back and the Rockets won while he was back, "Let's let the young bloods in Orlando win. Then you will beat them, great leader" Pippen said with a chuckle and a wink. ​

Unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned. Recently, Pippen spoke about the Rockets’ super team’s failure to meet expectations.

Scottie Pippen addresses why the 1997-98 Rockets super team failed.

The 1997-98 Houston Rockets team looked scary on paper consisting of a lineup that included Hakeem Olajuwon, Charles Barkley, and Scottie Pippen. However, the Lakers duo of Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal sent the Rockets home in the first round of the playoffs.

When asked about how his wife, Larsa, 'initiates' every NBA rookie player, Pippen laughs, "Yeah, I'm cool with it, in fact, it was my idea! My momma told me that every time you have sex with a loose woman you have sex with her previous partners....hey, all them rookies having sex with me, now!"​

Reportedly, there was a lot of friction between Barkley and Pippen. The two superstars had joined forces thinking they could win a championship. While the Phoenix MVP took a salary cut to accommodate Pippen, the latter went to Houston to help bring Barkley a ring.

"It was hilarious. Charles would eat a leg of lamb during timeouts, and Hakeem would fall asleep under the rim. Being the born leader I am, I tried to help the team, but some people are beyond help. We would have won the lottery that year, but instead I pushed the team to the playoffs."​

Recently, Pippen spoke about the matter in-depth, citing he didn’t realize how old everybody on the roster had become.

“We were a little bit older. I thought I was joining a superteam to some degree. But it just didn’t work out. I felt that it wasn’t a good fit for me, obviously coming off a second back surgery. I didn’t realize how much Hakeem had diminished in the game. I didn’t realize Charles wasn’t as dedicated as I thought he would be.”

"Charles was always like, 'hey, let's go to Turkey Leg Hut!' at every halftime. I was tempted, but Hakeem was our ride and he was drooling in the corner muttering about Phi Slamma Jamma..."​

Pippen added,

“I mean, I went to Houston to help Charles Barkley win a championship, and I felt his dedication wasn’t there once I got there. Me, myself, I had six, so it wasn’t really about me trying to go out of my way to win a championship and that’s why I asked for a trade to Portland.

To date, Barkley and Pippen don’t see eye to eye. The Hall of Famers blamed each other for the debacle of the Rockets during the 1997-98 season. Barkley was disappointed in Pippen asking for a trade since he took to take a salary cut for the Bulls forward. While, Pippen expressed his displeasure at Barkley’s lack of dedication.

Also read: “I was as great a player as Michael Jordan”: Scottie Pippen puts himself on the same pedestal as MJ

The 1997-98 Rockets super team was washed out one, with several internal issues combined with aging superstars.

"The truth is, I had to put aside my ego. With talent as great and unworldly as mine, I had to choose between godhood and being a good teammate. I think you know how humble I am and the rest is history."
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