Karl Malone and Michael Jordan had quite a rivalry on the court, and it appears the tension between the two NBA greats continues into retirement.
Though Jordan beat Malone in consecutive NBA finals, the Utah Jazz great said he would pass over Air Jordan in creating an all-time starting five list.
During an appearance on The Dan Patrick Show , Karl Malone talked about LeBron James and the best players of all time. When asked who he would put on the floor to assemble the greatest possible lineup, Malone had John Stockton and Oscar Robertson at guards, Wilt Chamberlain at center, LeBron at power forward, and Scottie Pippen at small forward.
Karl Malone said Michael Jordan didn’t carry the Bulls the way Scottie could.
“Scottie Pippen led the team in every statistical category while he was there without Michael Jordan,” Malone explained. “That’s why I have to put him there. So now you know.”
Malone’s preference for Pippen shouldn’t be too much of a surprise. In an interview last year in anticipation of a Dream Team documentary, he again said he would take Jordan’s sidekick over Jordan .
“I would have to start my team with Scottie Pippen,” Malone said according to CSNChicago.com . “This is why I would take Scottie: Do you remember the time that Michael retired? I watched Scottie Pippen when the Chicago Bulls weren’t really good and Scottie led that team in every statistical category, and I just remembered that. Plus, he’s a guy who could care less about scoring. He wants to stop the best player on the other team. That would have been pretty cool, to see Scottie guarding Michael.”
It isn’t just Karl Malone who thinks Michael Jordan isn’t the best all-time. His own coach, Phil Jackson, said he would pick Bill Russell over Jordan if he had to select one player to build a team around.
