Scottie Pippen is one of the best and most versatile defenders in NBA history, but he ought to be known for how he provides one-of-a-kind offense… in the trash talking arena that is. He doesn’t do it often, so when he does dish out some, he makes sure that it really counts.

One of the most well-known Pippen quips happened in Game 1 of the 1997 NBA Finals, when he and the Chicago Bulls faced the Utah Jazz in their first of a would-be back-to-back championship series.

The lead-up to the moment was pretty cardiac. With under two minutes remaining in the game, the Bulls and Jazz were still battling neck-and-neck as to who will draw first blood, aggressively trading baskets for the lead – Michael Jordan swished a go-ahead free throw line jumper to make it 78-77; Malone then drove for a lay-up to go up, 79-78; Pippen and John Stockton then traded three-pointers that left the score at 82-81, in favour of the Jazz.

The very next sequence, Jordan drew a foul on Jeff Hornaceck and went to the charity stripe for two shots with only 35.8 ticks left. Uncharacteristically, though, His Airness, quite possibly the most reliable clutch performer of all-time, only went 1-for-2, thus only tying the game instead of grabbing back the lead.

In Utah’s ensuing possession, an eventual scramble led to a loose ball foul on Dennis Rodman, which sent Malone to the line – this time the clock had gone down to just 9.2 seconds.

That’s when Pippen approached Malone for a quick little burn:

“I just whispered in his ear, ‘The Mailman doesn’t deliver on Sundays.’ … It was off the top of my head, freestyle.”

Those are six simple words that hit many key points – Malone’s nickname is the ‘The Mailman,’ mailmen usually don’t deliver on Sundays, and Game 1 (June 1, 1997) was held on a Sunday.

The basketball and wordplay gods probably loved it too, as it worked to perfection and Malone bricked both attempts.

What happened next stung even further: the Bulls hauled in the rebound, called a timeout, and set Jordan up for a patented isolation play to casually drain a buzzer-beating jumper.

The Bulls also eventually won the series, 4-2, to take home their fifth championship in seven seasons.

While Pippen’s one-liner proceeded to take a life of its own in the following years, he clarified that he and Malone are very close off the court.

“It actually wasn’t personal. Karl was my guy. He even came to pick me up from the airport sometimes when we were in Utah. My relationship with him is way more than basketball. It was a joke because my brother was a mailman.”

Pip’s brother being a mailman is another point for him. It’s simply one of the best, if not the best, trash talk lines ever.

Pippen and Malone both retired at the end of the 2004 season and became Hall-of-Famers in 2010.