While Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen continue to trade subtle jabs, one former teammate is sounding the alarm on something bigger than basketball. With time no longer on their side, Bill Wennington is urging the two legends to put the feud aside before it is too late.

“Back to Scottie and Michael, I think time will tell. I think we are getting older,” the Bulls legend said on The Good Shepard. “I’ve had discussions a little bit with Scottie, ‘You got to get rid of your demons. You’ve got to let them out.’ So they’re two very strong-minded people. But I would seriously have them in a room and have them just to look at each other for a minute and realize that we’re not in our early 30s anymore.”

“You sometimes say things when you’re angry that you know you don’t mean, but they hurt,” Wennington continued. “We’ve got to get over that because we’re not going to be here forever. We’re getting older, and we’ve already lost a couple of people from that team, coaches and players-wise. And eventually it’s going to be too late…”

Wennington, who was part of the Bulls’ second three-peat, witnessed firsthand how well Jordan and Pippen worked together. His message carries a lot of emotion as several key figures from that era are no longer around, including Bison Dele, assistant coach Tex Winter, and general manager Jerry Krause. For Wennington, that reality makes reconciliation far more urgent than any lingering basketball dispute.

When the Chicago Bulls unveiled their Ring of Honor in 2024, the night was overshadowed by loud boos directed at Krause, leaving his widow in tears. The absence of Jordan, Pippen, and Dennis Rodman only added to the tension surrounding that era. Despite moments like that, the divide has only grown, with Pippen continuing to stir the pot, this time through a recent commercial.

Scottie Pippen takes another shot at Michael Jordan

Since The Last Dance aired, Pippen has been vocal about his frustrations, and even wrote in his 2021 memoir Unguarded that the series “glorified Michael Jordan while not giving nearly enough praise to me and my proud teammates.” That tension resurfaced again in 2026 with another public jab.

A commercial for the drink Mr. Pibb features Pippen in a setting reminiscent of The Last Dance. As the brand positions itself against Dr Pepper, Pippen delivers a pointed line: “When something has been second best for so long, we just blindly accept that it’s gospel.” The voiceover mentions marketing before Pippen cuts in and adds “multi-part documentaries” as another reason.

It ends with Pippen declaring, “Yeah, I said it. Pipp is the GOAT.” Given that he and Jordan are still not on speaking terms, the moment lands less as humor and more as another layer to a feud that, as Wennington warned, may run out of time to be resolved.

Situations like this are not without precedent. Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant also endured a very public fallout during their playing days before eventually reconciling later in life. That history makes Wennington’s message even clearer. Time has a way of closing doors, and for two icons of the game, the opportunity to fix things does not last forever.