Scottie Pippen got off the bench to defend himself.

After morning-radio comments Pippen made were interpreted as ranking LeBron James ahead of Michael Jordan, the former Bulls great backtracked on Twitter later Friday.

“For all of you that don’t know, I played the game you keep watching and cheering,” Pippen tweeted.

Three hours later, he added, “Don’t get me wrong, MJ was and is the greatest. But LeBron could by all means get to his level someday.”

Pippen earlier Friday said James, headed to this year’s NBA Finals with the Heat, might be greater than Jordan, with whom Pippen won six NBA titles in Chicago.

“Michael Jordan is probably the greatest scorer to play the game,” Pippen said on “Mike & Mike In The Morning” on ESPN Radio. “But I may go as far as to say LeBron James may be the greatest player to ever play the game because he is so potent offensively that not only can he score at will but he keeps everybody involved.”

Fellow Bulls teammate Horace Grant disagreed with Pippen’s rankings.

“Pip is my man, and we will always be close but I totally disagree,” Grant said Friday on “The Waddle & Silvy Show” on ESPN 1000. “LeBron is going to be one of the top players to ever play the game. But Michael Jeffrey Jordan, who we bumped heads with at times, is I think in my era, the best who ever played the game.”