Michael Jordan is still taking it personally.
His Airness, along with Scottie Pippen, skipped the Chicago Bulls’ inaugural Ring of Honor gala as the iconic duo continues to feud.
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“I actually don’t know how much effort went into it,” Bulls chairman and legendary curmudgeon Jerry Reinsdorf said of trying to get Jordan and Pippen to attend the event, per the Chicago Sun-Times. “Obviously, it would be better if everybody were here, but we knew going in that not everybody could be here.”
Jordan and Pippen both told the Bulls ahead of time that they would not be attending. Pippen has been publicly feuding with Jordan since the release of “The Last Dance” documentary, taking multiple public shots at his former teammate since the show’s release in 2020.
Jordan did send a video message ahead of the dinner, thanking Jerry and president/CEO Michael Reinsdorf for starting the Ring of Honor and stating he was “so bummed” that he could not attend the gala.
“I am so bummed that I can’t be there tonight,” Jordan said in the video, “but I don’t want that to stop the fun you guys are going to have. Believe me, I am very grateful and very honored.”
Dennis Rodman also unexpectedly no-showed, but the Bulls hope he will be in attendance for the halftime festivities Friday night during Chicago’s matchup with the Golden State Warriors.
“I would be excited for everyone to come, but we announced it six weeks ago,” Michael Reinsdorf said. “People have schedule issues, and so this is just our way of saying thank you to the players and the staff, so that’s what we’re looking forward to.”
The Bulls officially announced their inaugural Ring of Honor class in December, featuring Artis Gilmore, Phil Jackson, Johnny “Red” Kerr, Dick Klein, Jerry Krause, Toni Kukoc, Bob Love, Dennis Rodman, Jerry Sloan, Chet Walker, Tex Winter, and the 1995-96 team as a whole in addition to Jordan and Pippen.
Jackson, Kukoc, Luke Longley, and Ron Harper were among the players who did attend the Thursday night event. Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, who is in town for the game, also helped emcee the event with broadcaster Adam Amin.