Scottie Pippen said that the Knicks’ offseason changes ahead of the 1996-97 season were for the worse and that they lost a lot of their toughness when they traded Anthony Mason to the Hornets for Larry Johnson.
Johnson heard what Pippen said but didn’t say anything then. He responded to Pippen months later after locking him up when the Knicks beat the Bulls 97-93 at Madison Square Garden on March 9, 1997.
“He needs to shut his mouth now,” Johnson said after the game. “All he needs to do is to give the ball to 23. That’s his best play right there. ‘Here, 23. Bail us out.’ He needs to shut his mouth.”
Johnson added more fuel to the fire, stating that the Bulls were a great team only because of Michael Jordan.
“He’s a bum,” Johnson said of Pippen. “He shut himself down. Mike gives all them boys guts over there. If it wasn’t for Mike…”
Pippen finished the game with 14 points on a dismal 4-of-18 shooting in 42 minutes. He was 1-of-8 from 3-point range, where Johnson often forced him to shoot. Johnson struggled on offense, scoring seven points with three assists and one rebound in 27 minutes, but he was able to contain Pippen when he was in the game.
Pippen’s Criticism of the Knicks Throughout His Career
Pippen took verbal digs at the Knicks whenever possible, like in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinals on May 20, 1994, when he threw down arguably the best poster dunk of all time on Patrick Ewing.
“That was probably the easiest dunk I ever did,” Pippen jokingly said. “I think I must have crossed Derek Harper over at half court because when I see the picture of it, he’s back [near the top of the key] wondering what happened. All I remember is catching the ball and I don’t know how Patrick even got down there. It was such a weird play.”
