White Sox's Tim Anderson Compares Contract to Scottie Pippen in 'The Last Dance'

Chicago White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson signed a six-year, $25 million extension in March 2017 after playing just 99 games at the major league level in 2016. 

Hall of Fame forward Scottie Pippen signed a seven-year, $18 million extension with the Chicago Bulls in 1991 that has been reevaluated during the airing of ESPN's The Last Dance 10-part documentary series and, in hindsight, is seen as a gross underpayment compared to today's NBA:

Anderson sees a connection between the two contracts outside of keeping both he and Pippen in Chicago for the long term, as told to NBC Sports Chicago's Leila Rahimi:

"His decision, talking about the contract, at that point he had to do something, he had to think outside of the game. That's the same situation as mine when I signed my deal right after those 99 games. Nobody else was going to feed my family, so I had to do it. I had my daughter and my wife looking at me. So at that point, you've got to think about what really matters in life. At that point, that's why I took that deal. I'm sure it was the same for him."

The first two episodes of The Last Dance premiered Sunday, April 19.

"I felt like I couldn't afford to gamble myself getting injured and not being able to provide," Pippen said during the second episode, confirming Anderson's hunch. "I needed to make sure that people in my corner were taken care of."

Larsa Pippen, Pippen's ex-wife, also pointed out that the six-time NBA champion earned over $100 million in his 17-year playing career:

Anderson will likely have a chance to cash in on a more lucrative deal before his playing days are over. The White Sox hold club options in 2023 and 2024 before the reigning American League batting champion is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent in 2025, his age-32 season.

The highest-paid MLB shortstops are Boston Red Sox two-time All-Star Xander Bogaerts and Texas Rangers two-time All-Star Elvis Andrus at $120 million, per Spotrac.