Scottie Pippen - NBA Hero

Scottie Pippen - NBA

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Scottie Pippen (born September 25, 1965 in Hamburg, Arkansas) is a former professional American basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and is most remembered for leading the Chicago Bulls together with Michael Jordan to their six championships.

First Seasons with the Chicago Bulls

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Scottie Pippen grew up in Arkansas, where he attended college at University of Central Arkansas. Scottie Pippen, a 6'8" small forward, was drafted fifth overall in the 1987 NBA draft by the Seattle SuperSonics, who immediately traded him to the Chicago Bulls for the eighth pick, 7-ft center Olden Polynice.

Pippen immediately became part of Chicago's young forward tandem with 6'10" (2.08 m) power forward Horace Grant, though both came off the bench to back up Brad Sellers and Charles Oakley, respectively, during their rookie seasons. Still, Pippen claimed the starting small forward position during the 1988 playoffs with his stellar play, helping the Michael Jordan-led Bulls reach the Eastern Conference semi-finals for the first time in over a decade.

The Bulls First Three-Peat

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Pippen continued to improve, helping the Bulls to the Conference Finals the following year as well as 1990, when he earned his first NBA All-Star Game berth. In 1991, he continued to establish himself as a force to be reckoned with, undoubtedly the Bulls' second best offensive and defensive player after Jordan.

He helped lead the Bulls to six NBA Championships (1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1995–96, 1996–97, and 1997–98). Pippen was selected as one of the NBA's Fifty Greatest Players when the league was celebrating its fiftieth season in 1996.

Pippen without Jordan

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The 1993–94 season marked Pippen's coming out party, when he stepped out from Jordan's shadow and became known as one of the best players in the league. That year, he earned All-Star Game MVP honors. He had perhaps his best season, leading the Bulls in scoring, rebounding, assists, and the entire league in steals, averaging 21.4 points, 8.1 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 2.9 steals per game. For his efforts, he earned the second of three straight All-NBA First Team nods, and he was a strong candidate for MVP.

Perhaps the most infamous episode of Pippen's career came in the 1993-1994 postseason, where the Eastern Conference semifinals pitted the Bulls against their bitter rivals, the New York Knicks. On May 13, 1994, down 2-0 in the series and tied 102-102 in Game Three, Bulls coach Phil Jackson needed a big play from his team to have any hope of advancing to the next round of the playoffs. With 1.8 seconds left and the score tied, Jackson designed the last play for Toni Kukoč, with Pippen being relegated to simply inbounding the basketball. Pippen, who had been the Bulls' leader all season long in Jordan's absence, was so angered by Jackson's decision to not let him take the potential game-winner that he cursed at Jackson and stomped out of the huddle, refusing to leave the bench and re-enter the game when the timeout was over.

Although Kukoc did eventually hit the game-winner, a 23-foot fadeaway jumper, there was little celebrating to be done by the victors, as television cameras caught an unsmiling Phil Jackson storming out of the arena. "Scottie asked out of the play," Jackson would tell reporters moments later in the postgame interview room. Those seeking further answers found Pippen in the locker room after the game, looking shell-shocked and disoriented; when asked to confirm Jackson's statement, Pippen could only respond with "Yeah, pretty much ... We exchanged words, and I just took a seat."

Teammate Steve Kerr elaborated when recently asked to recall the event: "I was shocked," he said. "The only way to describe it was total disbelief. Here was a guy who had done so much for our team, who had been our leader all year long. He was, and still is, one of the greatest teammates I've ever had. But on that day, I think all the pressure and frustration of our season caught up with him, and he snapped." But perhaps Michael Jordan best summed up what was dubbed "1.8-gate" by SLAM Magazine, when he heard about it from reporters in the Birmingham Barons' locker room: "Poor Scottie," he said. "I kept telling him it's not easy being me. Now he knows."

The Bulls Second Three-Peat

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Upon Jordan's return to the NBA, the Bulls regained their much needed strength. With a revamped roster with Dennis Rodman and Luc Longley, the Bulls managed to post the best regular season record for any team in NBA history (72-10) en route to winning their fourth title.

They followed the feat with two more titles the following years. When Jordan retired again, Pippen decided he didn't want to stay in Chicago.

Later career

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After playing in Chicago for 11 seasons, his tumultuous relationship with General Manager Jerry Krause came to a head, and the second alltime leader in points, assists, and steals in Chicago's history was traded to the Houston Rockets for the lockout-shortened season in 1998–99. In Houston, he teamed with Hakeem Olajuwon and Charles Barkley to form one of the best front lines in NBA history, but the squad lacked chemistry. He was traded in the offseason to the Portland Trail Blazers, whom he led to the Western Conference finals, where they lost to the eventual champion, the Los Angeles Lakers, in seven games.

Despite the "1.8 seconds" incident in 1994, Pippen was, for the most part, the consummate playoff performer, reaching the playoffs an amazing 16 straight years (11 with Chicago, 1 with Houston, 4 with Portland), and played in more playoff games than any NBA player but Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. In the summer of 2003, new Bulls General Manager (and former Pippen teammate) John Paxson attempted to change the fortunes of the rebuilding Bulls by bringing Scottie back to Chicago. However, Pippen's effectiveness was drastically limited by injuries, and he retired prior to the 2004–05 season on October 5, 2004.

Pippen is also famous for having played the point forward position, which he popularized (and revitalized) with his great ball-handling, passing and court vision—skills traditionally limited to point guards. This was in addition to his rebounding, scoring, and defense, all contributing to his dominant play for over a decade.

Retirement

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After retiring, he spent some time working as a basketball analyst for the Chicago Bulls. Currently, he is a special assistant coach for the Los Angeles Lakers. Starting on December 25, 2005, Pippen will be a studio analyst for the NBA on ABC.

Pippen is an avid poker player, and frequently participated in high-stakes games with teammates Jordan and Ron Harper when the Bulls were on the road.

On April 22, 1999, Pippen was detained under suspicion of driving while intoxicated, but the charges were later dropped due to insufficient evidence.

On December 9, 2005, Pippen had his jersey number retired by the Chicago Bulls in a ceremony. His 33 joins Jordan's 23, Jerry Sloan's 4 and Bob Love's 10 as the only four numbers retired by the Chicago Bulls.

References

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Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia