Lol I know but I was just thinking about this today and was curious about others thoughts. And this is the dish not the GARM
Scottie Quitten. Jordan never shied away from defending other team's best player, but that was largely Pippen's responsibility. Plus Pippen had versatility to guard frontcourt players too. All things even, holding down opposing 1st option >> holding down 2nd & lower options.
Pippen was a better defender, but not by much. But he's become one of most overrated players after retirement, he's was a great forward, but he wasn't close to top 5. http://chasing23.com/did-scottie-pippen-always-guard-the-other-teams-best-player/
I didn't really pay attention to Pippen, but since many claim Kobe was a great defender, I have to guy with MJ because that guy could lock guys down! Truly lock em down, get them uncomfortable to the point where he stole the ball, they made a bad pass or travelled. The guy could steal, block shots, pretty much anything on top of his already top notch offensive game. So taking his offensive assignments into account, MJ is the one I'd give the nod.
But he could not guard Iverson, nobody could harhar I had to rewatch Iverson cross over Michael..... fantastic
I'd have to go with Pippen. Even I would probably struggle to score against him in my prime given his length and overall defensive ability.
I think Phil Jackson even said that Pippen was the better defender. Jordan became great because Jackson would often put Pippen on Jordan during practice. Pippen is taller and got longer arms than Jordan, thus he's got a huge wingspan.
Pippen easily and by far. Jordan was very good, but Pippen is probably the best wing defender ever. He was great, he was versatile, he was the vocal leader on defense, and he was great defensively longer. Jordan was a great defender and he could get into people's heads, but Pippen was KG of the Bulls, heart and soul of their defense, and he had a battle field commander's voice, you could easily hear him commanding teammates on defense through all the noise. Also, Pippen was still fantastic defensively in 1997 and 1998, Jordan started to decline by that time.
I would disagree, Pippen was better in final Bulls years and usually got tougher assignments. But Jordan still had some defense even with the Wizards, which is remarkable, he was 40 and playing through injuries, yet he sometimes blocked people on fast breaks.
In terms of defensive ability, they were comparable. Pippen takes the edge in defensive effort. In other words, Jordan got stops when he put his mind to it. Pippen always put his mind to shutting down his man.
I have to say Jordan was probably a better lock down defender while Pippen was a better team defender and passing lanes guy. I remember when Pippen got torched badly by Penny Hardaway in the playoffs. Though there is no shame in that, it dropped him a bit in my book considering the hype he had at the time as a great defender