When ESPN and Netflix released The Last Dance in April 2020, the documentary was greeted with mixed emotions. It was a turn-back-the-clock moment to arguably the most iconic dynasty in NBA history, offering fans a unique chance to relive the final year of the Chicago Bulls ' second three-peat.
The excitement was real. Those championship moments and all the happenings in the locker room brought a bit of nostalgia for many.
However, as all coins have two sides, the flip side revealed itself as well. Some former Bulls, and even fans in general, felt the documentary leaned heavily toward Michael Jordan 's narrative.
Sure, His Airness was the baddest player on the planet at the time, but the success of the Bulls was far from his alone. Yet the documentary framed it as if the dynasty was a one-man show.
One of the players who found this portrayal particularly unfair was Horace Grant , a cornerstone of Chicago's early title runs. Among all the teammates, he felt Scottie Pippen got it the worst.
The 6'10" big man didn't hold back his opinion on the matter during a recent appearance on Stacy King's "Gimme The Hot Sauce Podcast."
"I think it was an unfair portrayal of one of the Top 75 Players in Scottie in the documentary," Grant bluntly shared . "I forgot what I had for breakfast this morning, you know. How the hell could someone know what happened 25-30 years ago? It was entertaining, but when you're behind the scenes, you know exactly what was going on. What was said and what was not said."
It's no secret that after their playing days, the once-indestructible duo of Pippen and Jordan grew apart. The tension was clearly there, although most of the time, it went unspoken under the radar. That strain reached a boiling point with the documentary, particularly with Pippen's infamous refusal to check into a game when the play was drawn up for Toni Kukoc in a moment that was put up to point to the negative side of Pip.
That play happened in 1994, but was aired as a part of the documentary that focuses on the last year of the Bulls' dynasty.
"And I think Pip has the right to be a little angry. Hopefully, with time, they say time heals all, hopefully he will heal," Grant pointed out.
This is not the first, nor probably the last time, Grant voices his disappointment in how TLD was constructed, feeling it often made the supporting cast look incompetent while overglorifying Jordan's heroics.
"Once I saw it, they cut that thing like, sliced it up. I mean, I'm sitting there and I couldn't believe it, to be honest," he said on the same episode. "Once I saw it, they cut that thing like, sliced it up. I mean, I couldn't believe it, to be honest."
Grant respects the brilliance of Jordan and the historic achievements of that Bulls team, no doubt about it. However, he also wants everyone to understand that it wouldn't have been possible without the carefully picked team of players who played their roles to perfection.
From Kukoc to Dennis Rodman, Steve Kerr and Grant himself (and many others, of course), there was always someone ready to support Jordan when he needed it. And most of the nights, it was Pippen.
Although MJ's greatness was and still is undeniable, he couldn't have done it alone.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Sep 8, 2025, where it first appeared in the Latest News section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
