In 2026, advertisements are commonplace, but Chicago Bulls legend Scottie Pippen recently appeared in a commercial that sent waves through NBA fans around the world.
In a recent advertisement for the soda Mr. Pibb, which is often viewed as a second choice after Dr. Pepper, Pippen took aim at his former teammate Michael Jordan.
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“When something has been considered second-best for so long, we just blindly accept it as gospel,” Pippen said. “A decade-long plot built on marketing, social media and multi-part documentaries. … Yeah I said it. Pipp is the GOAT.”
The narrator went on to correct Pippen and clarify that it’s pronounced “Pibb” before Pippen shrugged off the idea.
Pippen has taken slight jabs at Jordan in recent years, but Monday’s commercial was anything but subtle. While it likely won’t cause any actual conflict between the two, it certainly caused some buzz among the NBA community.
On one hand, Jordan is still arguably the greatest scorer the world has ever seen, but Pippen was viewed as the more complete all-around player by some of his peers. Their legendary head coach Phil Jackson famously called Pippen the more complete player during an interview at the height of the Bulls’ NBA dominance.
Regardless, the commercial is very clever and certainly seems to be having the intended effect.
James Parker is a sports writer for Ball Exclusives, follow him on X @TheJames_Parker
