Scottie Pippen compares trying to defend LeBron James and Kevin Durant

Scottie Pippen talked about trying to cover LeBron James and Kevin Durant.

Though he was often underrated for his playmaking and scoring ability on the great Chicago Bulls dynasty of the 1990s, Scottie Pippen has always been heralded for his lockdown defense. He and Michael Jordan made up one of the greatest defensive wing tandems in NBA history, helping anchor six championship teams over an eight-year span.

It’s no surprise, then, that Pippen is often asked about how he’d fare defensively against some of the league’s current greats. In an interview with FanSided’s Mark Carman, the seven-time All-Star and eight-time All-NBA selection was stumped as to whether prime LeBron James or prime Kevin Durant would’ve been a tougher cover for Pippen in his prime.

“Wow,” Pippen responded. “Oh man, that’s a … I’ll flip that coin and hope it don’t come down.”

Carman posited whether Pippen might prefer a matchup with LeBron because he would give up the jump shot, but the Bulls legend still wasn’t sure.

“I mean, yeah, I would give him the J, but his J ain’t broke,” Pippen said. “It ain’t broke. It’s just, it ain’t KD-ish. But it ain’t broke.”

At that point, Pippen expanded on the differences between guarding the two superstars.

“LeBron’s got a lot more physicality and power that he beats you up with, which is a lot different than the style that a Kevin Durant plays, who’s going to beat you up with more his range and his length, just his ability to to shoot the ball over people,” he said. “Both of them are a tough guard. They’re both great.”

Although Pippen ultimately wouldn’t pick one over the other, he did note that he thinks Durant hasn’t reached his peak just yet.

“KD is just now cracking into his prime,” he said. “That’s the crazy part about it. He’s got two Finals MVPs, a league MVP and to me, he really ain’t even hit his prime. He’s just starting to get into it.”

In his chat with Carman, Pippen also explained why he changed his pick to win the Western Conference from the LA Clippers to the Los Angeles Lakers and why he doesn’t think Giannis Antetokounmpo is ready to win a title yet.

Scottie Pippen sat down to promote Michelob Ultra and their digital courtside experience. Fans can visit www.ultracourtside.com and follow Michelob ULTRA’s social channels for details on how to win access to the courtside experience.