Scottie Pippen says LeBron won 2016 title 'without any help' originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
Scottie Pippen is still going. And he's showing no signs of slowing down.
One day after an explosive interview with GQ — in which Pippen levied harsh criticism against Kevin Durant and Phil Jackson while on the promotional tour for his newly-released bourbon — hit the internet, the Bulls legend took to Twitter to verbally spar with ESPN's Stephen A. Smith.
The topic? LeBron James.
In a Friday morning tweet, Pippen first contended that James won the 2016 NBA Finals for the Cleveland Cavaliers "without any help." Later, he followed up by posing the question: "Which other star was out there with LeBron?"
Well, Kyrie Irving comes to mind. Irving averaged 27.1 points and 3.9 assists on 46.8/40.5/93.9 percent shooting splits from the floor, 3-point range and free-throw line in that series, famously capping off the Cavaliers' 3-1 comeback with a stepback 3 over Steph Curry to put Cleveland ahead for good in a tension-packed Game 7.
In fact, in the three consecutive wins the Cavaliers rattled off to claim the first championship in franchise history, Irving posted 41, 23 and 26 points, respectively. James was certainly the engine of the team's success, but Irving was a worthy, star-level running mate.
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Stephen A. snapped back at Pippen in turn, as did a chorus of voices across NBA Twitter.
Odds are, though, Pippen is comfortable sitting back and enjoying the madness. No such thing as bad publicity, right?
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