Draymond Green Says Bulls, Warriors Dynasties Were 'Built on Bad Contracts'
A key talking point during the second episode of ESPN's documentary The Last Dance that aired on Sunday and explored Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls dynasty of the 1990s was how little Scottie Pippen was paid relative to his value to the team.
Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green saw some parallels with teammate Stephen Curry's early deal, saying, "I think the two greatest teams ever in the NBA were built on bad contracts," during an interview with UNINTERRUPTED (26-minute mark, NSFW language).
Green wondered how Curry's former contract compared to Pippen's given inflation and how different deals are in today's game.
Curry, who entered the league as the No. 7 overall pick of the 2009 NBA draft, played on a four-year deal with an average annual salary of $11 million from the 2013-14 campaign through the 2016-17 one, per Spotrac.
While there were concerns about his ankles and overall durability when he signed that contract after the Davidson product appeared in just 26 games during the 2011-12 season, the total seemed paltry compared to his production on the court as Golden State built a modern-day dynasty.
He won back-to-back MVPs during that four-year span, and the Warriors won championships in 2015 and 2017. They also won the title in 2018 after Curry was no longer playing on that contract.
The six-time All-Star has since been paid accordingly and is under a contract with an average salary north of $40 million, but his previous low cap hit allowed Golden State to accumulate talent as it became a juggernaut.
As for Pippen, tension with his contract was a central theme at the start of the 1997-98 season in Chicago. The documentary detailed how he missed a significant portion of the season because he put off surgery so he didn't miss his summer and even demanded a trade at one point because the front office was not paying him what he was worth.
At the time, Pippen was the sixth-highest-paid player on the Bulls and 122nd-highest-paid player in the league.
It was frankly shocking considering how integral he was to Chicago's six championships as far more than just Jordan's sidekick. The Hall of Famer was a seven-time All-NBA selection, 10-time All-Defensive selection and seven-time All-Star during his career and was often tasked with guarding the opponent's best player.
Green called Pippen's contract "f--king horrible," but the Bulls legend eventually landed a head-turning payday.
According to Spotrac, Pippen made $11 million or more in salary in each of the five seasons he suited up for the Houston Rockets and Portland Trail Blazers. He made more than $19 million in 2002-03 for Portland.
