In a story recently published by GQ, Hall of Fame forward and Chicago Bulls legend Scottie Pippen said that head coach Phil Jackson's decision to set up Toni Kukoc for the final shot in a 1994 playoff game was racially motivated.
Pippen even doubled down on that assertion during an appearance on Monday's edition of The Dan Patrick Show, responding "Oh yeah" when Patrick directly asked him if Jackson is a racist.
Whether or not Pippen's strong accusation against Jackson is supported by others around the league, it's simply news to former NBA head coach and current CBS Sports HQ analyst Avery Johnson.
"I've never heard of that," Johnson told the Tiki and Tierney show on Tuesday. "I'm not behind the scenes. I've coached against Phil, played against his teams. I've never heard any player, black or white, who has mentioned anything like that. We just had the [ESPN documentary] series "The Last Dance," and was that mentioned in "The Last Dance"? I don't think so. And if it was going to be mentioned, that was a great time to mention it.
"Again, I don't know exactly what's going on. I don't know the extent of their relationship. Somebody mentioned it to me about an hour ago here in my office. Scottie's been in the news a lot for various reasons, going at Kevin Durant and different players. But this is a new one. And I think most folks in the coaching ranks probably would agree with me, that's something that we've never really heard before."
The infamous play occurred during Game 3 of the 1994 East semifinals against the New York Knicks. With the score tied at 102 and 1.8 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, Jackson drew up a play for the rookie Kukoc. Pippen was so upset by the Jackson's decision, that he removed himself from the game. Kukoc wound up making the game-winning shot, although the Bulls ultimately lost the series in six games.
The entire NBA conversation between Johnson and Tiki and Tierney can be accessed in the audio player above.
You can follow the Tiki and Tierney Show on Twitter @TikiAndTierney and Tom Hanslin @TomHanslin.
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