Scottie Pippen is jumping into the documentary game — the NBA legend tells us he’s linking up with a top filmmaker, and they’re creating a series chronicling the 1990-1991 Chicago Bulls, focusing on the actual game ball from the title-clinching game!
“We’re looking to do a documentary on this basketball because we think that there’s a lot of stories to be told,” Pippen told Babcock on the TMZ Sports TV show (airs nightly on FS1).
“I think that ball really was a start of a dynasty and almost, I want to say, the end of a great dynasty in the Los Angeles Lakers, who we’ve known for many years in the ’80s as ‘Showtime,’” Scottie said, explaining the significance of the basketball.
Of course, the ’91 NBA Finals pitted the L.A. Lakers, led by Magic Johnson, James Worthy, Sam Perkins, and Vlade Divac, against the Chicago Bulls, powered by a 27-year-old Michael Jordan and 25-year-old Pippen.
After dropping game one to the Lake Show, the Bulls won the next four, sending the Lakers — who won ‘ships in ’80, ’82, ’85, ’87, and ’88 — packing … and ending their dynasty for good.
As for the Bulls, it was the start of one of the most dominant dynasties ever … and the first of six NBA titles (’91, ’92, ’93, ’96, ’97, ’98).
Scottie says he’s teamed up with the Hidden Empire production company’s Deon Taylor (DT’s working with Floyd Mayweather, too, on another project) … who will bring the vision to life.
“I think it’s going to be more about the whole run of that season. I am working with a team, but my ideal is to see this ball really sort of tell a story of what it was like for basketball in the ’90s and what it was like for our journey to get to that first championship.”
There’s more … Pippen, who has held onto the game ball for 33 years, is also planning to sell a piece of the ball to basketball fans around the world by turning it into a digital token on the blockchain.
“What we’ve done with the ball is we’ve tokenized it and we believe that this ball is a real-world asset. And so, we want to make this ball as valuable as possible. So what we’re doing, we’re giving this ball back to the community and allowing them to see the value and also to build the value in this asset,” Pippen said.
In other words, Scottie’s selling fractional ownership in one of his most prized possessions.
“I’ve held on to this ball and I’ve held it right with my championship rings and also I have six replica championship trophies. So I keep it as close to my heart as I do those things because I feel like this ball was something very meaningful for me. Even at the moment when I grabbed it, I just sort of knew that that was going to be a start of something special.”
No word when the doc will drop … but judging by “The Last Dance,” there’s a ton of interest in the ’90s Chicago Bulls!
