NBA Legends, Scottie Pippen and Tracy McGrady made an appearance on ESPN ‘The Leap,’ about four years ago. The main topic of discussion revolved around Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan.
At one point, Scottie said, « There’s no way MJ can outrun Kobe. » This drove people crazy. McGrady was blown away. He never thought those words would come out of anyone’s mouth. Since Pippen and MJ played together for so many years, it was out of the blue.
McGrady went against his comment and said how Kobe was shooting more from beyond the arc, while Michael Jordan mixed it up inside the two-point range. Pippen was not convinced and added, « Kobe excites me the way Steph Curry excites people in today’s game. »
Scottie thinks there’s no way Michael Jordan can top Kobe Bryant
Scottie went further and explained how Kobe was a better outside shooter than MJ to which McGrady nodded his head in agreement. Jordan was more multidimensional while his protégé was more of a shooter.
When the producers of the show decided to put up a stat card to serve as proof for Scottie’s statement, you could see a significant difference regarding the 3-point shooting factor. Looking at their overall career statistics, the Jumpman led Kobe in 2-point field goal percentage. MJ’s 51% won the race against Kobe’s 48% accuracy.
While their 3-point accuracy was blocking horns at 33%, Kobe’s shot attempt numbers looked overwhelming. He attempted 5,546 threes in his career, three times more than Jordan’s 1,778. However, this reflects how Jordan mixed things up and played his game. His unpredictability confused defenders, making him the best of his game.
