side : Forward
Scottie Pippen ranked with the beneficial all - around player inbasketball , just a tongue card below teammateMichael Jordan . Even on the night his shot was n’t dropping , Pippen predominate with defense , rebounding , and sink . Few players were better at hold on the perimeter than Pippen , a long - armed , cat - warm ballhawk who once led the NBA in steal , leaped for his portion of blocks , and had a standing reservation on the conference ’s All - Defensive Team .
Two high - profile post - season defensive duty assignment stomach out in living of Pippen ’s justificatory supremacy . The first came after the Bulls lose Game 1 of the 1991 NBA Finals to theLos AngelesLakers . Pippen was assign to hold Magic Johnson for the rest of the series , and the 6'7 '' swingman stymied Johnson , sending the Bulls on a four - biz streak to the first of their three neat titles .
The 2d chance came seven year later , at the sundown of Chicago ’s rubric run , when Pippen was again mate with a point guard – the Indiana Pacers ' Mark Jackson in the easterly final examination – and defended him physically enough to deepen the trend of the series . On offense , Pippen created countless grading chance , slashing to the basket for dunk shot or passport , or pull up for start shots .
critic have also contended that he lacks leadership skills . The darkest moment in Pippen ’s career came in the 1994 playoffs when he refused coach Phil Jackson ’s orders to reenter a secret plan against the New York Knicks when a last - 2d winning shot was design around teammate Toni Kukoc rather than himself . As his vocation meander down , however , Pippen proved himself a valuable teammate with the Houston Rockets and a veteran leader for thePortlandTrail Blazers .
Born September 25 , 1965 , in rural Hamburg , Arkansas , Pippen stood only 6'1 '' and weighed 150 pounds as a high school point guard and was n’t offered any scholarships . His omnibus arranged for him to see the University of Central Arkansas on a oeuvre - subject area basis as the basketball manager .
reserve to exercise with the team , Pippen won a blot on the roll and , within a year , sprouted five column inch . After averaging 23.6 point his older time of year , he stunned NBA reconnoiter with his exploits at the conference ’s pre - draft rating camps . The Bulls swop up to gain him betimes in the 1987 draft .
Pippen played a reticence role for more than a twelvemonth before moving into the starting lineup midway through the 1988 - 1989 time of year . He increased his grading , rebounding , and serve norm in each of his first five seasons , in conclusion stool the All - NBA first squad in 1994 . Pippen also assist the U.S. win Olympian gold in 1992 and 1996 .
Pippen returned to the Bulls but found himself fighting through stifle injury in his second run with the squad . He nonetheless was lauded for his leadership and patience with a untested , inexperienced team and his willingness to work . Pippen was considered the good mate and top practice player from Chicago ’s run to six championship , and he ’s count a promising succeeding NBA motorbus .
