Michael Jordan Apparently Overruled a Tracy McGrady for Scottie Pippen Trade

Tracy McGrady talks about the time he was almost traded for Scottie Pippen in 1997 before Michael Jordan nixed the deal.

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Complex Original

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Even though Scottie Pippen is one of the best players in Chicago Bulls history, the team reportedly flirted with the idea of trading him away on several occasions during his time in the Windy City. There was the time they considered trading him to the Supersonics for Shawn Kemp, the time they thought about dealing him to the Celtics for draft picks, and apparently, there was also the time when they kicked around the idea of sending him off in exchange for Tracy McGrady during the 1997 NBA Draft.

The McGrady-for-Pippen rumor has actually been floating around for years now, but T-Mac himself confirmed it on ESPN’s The Jump on Thursday when he told Rachel Nichols and Ramona Shelburne about it. According to him, it was pretty much a done deal, except it seems Michael Jordan wasn’t on board with it and nixed it before it went through.

“[Bulls general manager] Jerry Krause was actually trying to make a trade for me and Scottie Pippen,” he said, “and MJ called and axed that whole deal.”

“Did you know that at the time?” a stunned Shelburne asked McGrady.

“Yeah!” he said. “Absolutely. Jerry Krause was trying to make a trade for me that night and Scottie Pippen. They brought me in for a secret meeting.”

The Bulls did end up trading Pippen to the Rockets in 1998, but not before they won the title that year during MJ's final season with the Bulls. So it's kind of crazy to think about what might have happened—or rather, what might not have happened—had MJ not pulled the plug on the potential McGrady-for-Pippen deal.

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