NBA legend Scottie Pippen never went out of his way to befriend NBA icon Michael Jordan on the Chicago Bulls. 

Former NBA player Scottie Pippen. Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

While Pippen and Jordan were great teammates on the Bulls, the two superstars weren’t close friends.

“Michael and I got along well enough, though I could tell even then we were never going to be close,” Pippen wrote in his book.

“Maybe if we had played golf together, with the Wilson clubs he gave me my rookie year, it would have been different. I doubt it.

He lived in a different world from the rest of us. It occurred to me on more than a few occasions: If this is what fame looks like, I don’t want any part of it.

“Everyone (the folks at Nike, Gatorade, NBC’s Ahmad Rashad, etc.) fussed over Michael as if he were the king of Siam. He was a basketball player.

I made a conscious decision at the time and not once did I regret it. I wasn’t going to be one of those people desperately trying to get Michael Jordan to like me.

Only by charting my own course, and not relying on him for validation, would I reach my potential as a player and, more important, as a human being.

Being surrounded for as long as I could remember by 11 brothers and sisters who loved me unconditionally, I never felt the need to win someone over. They were my best friends then and always will be.”

Pippen and Jordan helped the Bulls win six championships in eight years during the ’90s.

Chicago went 6-0 in the NBA Finals and three-peated twice.

Pippen averaged 17.1 points, 6.4 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 2.0 steals and 0.9 blocks next to Jordan, while Jordan averaged 31.5 points, 6.4 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 2.5 steals and 0.8 blocks alongside Pippen.

Pippen and Jordan are in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Pippen asked Jordan to present him into the Hall of Fame in 2010.

“For the Hall of Fame ceremony, I needed to choose an official presenter, a person to stand on the stage with me as I delivered my remarks,” Pippen wrote in his book. “That individual is required to be a member of the Hall.

I thought about asking Dr. J since he was the player I idolized growing up. Except I barely knew him. Instead I picked someone I knew quite well, whose greatness I observed up close, day after day, year after year.

“There really was no other choice. So what if Michael and I weren’t best friends? The two of us will forever be linked together, the best duo in NBA history.

He helped make my dreams come true, as I helped make his. He said yes right away and I was extremely grateful.”

Pippen and Jordan are arguably the greatest duo in NBA history.

However, the two basketball icons are no longer on speaking terms for several reasons.