If Jeff Van Gundy wants to back up his prediction that the Miami Heat will break the Chicago Bulls' record of 72 wins, there's a former Bulls star who's willing to take the bet.

Scottie Pippen, during Hall of Fame festivities Friday morning, took exception to a prediction Van Gundy made to the Miami Herald that the Heat will break the mark the Bulls set in the 1995-96 season.

"Those guys' biggest goal is to win a championship and not try to win 72 games," Pippen told reporters. "But if Jeff Van Gundy wants to take a bet, I would bet him that they won't break it."

Van Gundy recently told ESPN 1000: "I would think that everybody would think they would have a great shot at it ... I just think if they're healthy, the discrepancy between their talent level and and the next level is so great, that I just don't see how they lose games. I think they're that good."

Pippen doesn't even agree that Miami is better than the Boston Celtics.

"You can put a lot of great players together, but it's about building chemistry," Pippen said. "There have been a lot of great teams put together. But that doesn't really seal the deal.

"I think that Boston is still the best team in the East. Miami has to prove themselves."

Pippen also pointed out that Van Gundy, who coached the New York Knicks and Houston Rockets, couldn't break the record.

"I don't want to elaborate on what Jeff Van Gundy said," Pippen said. "Who is he to say that they're gonna break the record? He coached for numerous years in this league and he hasn't been able to break it, so we'll wait and see."