Opinion: Scottie Pippen's hits on Michael Jordan may sell more books but will be costly to his reputation - USA TODAY

Naive, bitter, sad, embarrassing, confusing, jealous, petty, aggrieved, spiteful.

Those are just a few words when it comes to word association with Scottie Pippen and his new book ‘Unguarded.’ The book was released on Tuesday.

Pippen sounds like all of those things, most notably when he goes after former teammate - and former friend? - Michael Jordan. 

Pippen is unhappy with his depiction in the ESPN-Jordan documentary ‘The Last Dance,’ which first aired in the spring of 2020 while the NBA was on its COVID-19 hiatus. He feels slighted and wants to settle scores in the book.

“He couldn’t have been more condescending if he tried,” Pippen wrote of Jordan’s role in ‘The Last Dance,’ adding, “Now here I was, in my mid-fifties, seventeen years since my final game, watching us being demeaned once again. Living through it the first time was insulting enough.”

Pippen is in the midst of a media tour to promote and sell more copies of the book, out today from Atria Books, a Simon & Schuster division.

An excerpt of the book and a video Q&A ran in ‘GQ,’ ‘The New York Times’ published a Q&A with Pippen and he appeared Monday on NBC’s 'Today.'