Michael Jordan

After suggesting in a recent interview that LeBron James may be the greatest player to ever play the game, former Chicago Bulls superstar Scottie Pippen backed off his comments and cleared things up.

The Hall of Famer Pippen, 45, indicated that Michael Jordan, his teammate on six championship teams, is the greatest player in NBA history despite remarks he made last month regarding James, which were meant as a simple compliment to the Miami Heat star, ESPNChicago.com reported.

"The comments that I made were basically giving LeBron some props as a player, not to dismantle any player like Michael," the Bulls former All-Star forward said after a youth camp session at the Bulls-Sox academy. "We all know that he's the greatest player that ever played the game."

"I think it was taken a little bit out of context. I felt like I was drawing more of a conclusion from the statistics more than the accolades," added Pippen, who was named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History during the 1996-97 season.

Pippen, who worked with 130 young basketball players ages 6 to 17 during the five-day camp in Lislie, said that his praise of James were not meant to tear down "His Airness" but accused the media of blowing it out of proportion.

Pippen, who together with Jordan formed a formidable tandem during their time in Chicago, also said that he has spoken with Jordan since his controversial comments and indicated that it didn't cause any conflict between them.

"I talk to Michael all the time," Pippen said via ESPN.com. "There was no problem between me and Michael. I think [the media] chewed into it a little too much."

Pippen, considered one of the best small forwards of all time, having been named to eight straight NBA All-Defensive First Teams and the All-NBA First Team three times, suggested in May during a radio interview that James is a better all-around player than Jordan.

After making those comments on ESPN Radio's "Mike and Mike In The Morning", Pippen took to Twitter to clarify his statements by posting: "Don't get me wrong, MJ was and is the greatest. But LeBron could by all means get to his level someday. Every NBA generation has a new set of stars and LeBron is there as the best all around player in the game."

It was made after the Heat dismantled the Bulls in the Eastern Conference finals. Miami, however, succumbed to the Dallas Mavericks in six games in the 2011 NBA Finals.

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