According to Scottie Pippen, some members of the Chicago Bulls were not thrilled when Michael Jordan returned to the team in 1995. Returning from playing minor league baseball in Birmingham, not everyone was excited for the arrival of his “Airness.”

"I think a lot of players found it really difficult," Pippen told Basketball Network. "Michael brings a little different type of pressure to the game. And I think a lot of the players that had come there and gotten very comfortable, realized that they had to go back and restart."

After a season and a half without Jordan, Pippen had assumed leadership of the team and was now the star player, along with Ron Harper, B.J. Armstrong, Luc Longley, Steve Kerr, Bill Wennington, and Jud Buechler, who were developing their chemistry. When Jordan came back,  the transition took some time.

"We're not just walking into Scottie's house anymore," Pippen recalled. "It's Michael's and Scottie's house, and we have to sort of change how we do things around here as far as our comfort zone."

When MJ returned to finish out the 1995 season, the Bulls were eliminated by the Orlando Magic, which featured a cast that included Shaquille O’Neal, Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway, and former Bull Horace Grant.

The following year, the Bulls were back to their winning ways, claiming the first of their three consecutive championships.

After all their success, Pippen has not been shy in his criticism of Jordan, stemming from his dissatisfaction with how he and the Bulls were portrayed in The Last Dance documentary.

"The final two episodes aired on May 17. Similar to the previous eight, they glorified Michael Jordan while not giving nearly enough praise to me and my proud teammates,” Pippen wrote in his memoir Unguarded.

“Michael deserved a large portion of the blame. The producers had granted him editorial control of the final product. The doc couldn't have been released otherwise. He was the leading man and the director," he continued. "Except Michael was determined to prove to the current generation of fans that he was larger-than-life during his day—and still larger than LeBron James, the player many consider his equal, if not superior."