The Chicago Bulls once had the pleasure of having the greatest player of all time lead them to 6 NBA championships. Throughout all those championship quests, Michael Jordan had a trusted ally in Scottie Pippen. Scottie Pippen is regarded as one of the greatest one-on-one defenders of all time and many basketball pundits always mention how Jordan may not have been able to win anything without Scottie by his side. This of course is still a highly debatable topic, but for now let us focus on the kind of impact that Scottie Pippen was able to leave in the game of basketball.
The 6'9" Pippen was drafted 5th overall by the then Seattle Supersonics, now Oklahoma City Thunder, during the 1987 NBA Draft. His rights were immediately traded to the Bulls for Olden Polynice along with a future pick in the draft. During his first year with the Bulls, Pippen was primarily used as a backup for Charles Oakley and Brad Sellers, but by the following year he had earned the starting small forward spot. Pippen would continue to grow and improve as a player under the tutelage of Phil Jackson and the leadership of Michael Jordan.
Back then, Pippen and Jordan often played one-on-one against each other after practice so that they could each hone their individual skills. By the turn of the decade, Pippen had already established himself as one of the NBA's premiere forwards and defenders. He would be instrumental in helping the Bulls through the Eastern Conference Finals two consecutive times from 1989 to 1990, however they would fall to the Pistons in each of those years with Pippen suffering a migraine during game 7 of the 1990 East Finals.
By 1991 to 1993, Pippen had emerged as the Bulls premiere defensive threat and was also a pretty competent scorer as well. He helped guide the Bulls to their first three-peat from 91 to 93 and in each of those series he was assigned to guard the opposing team's best player. Questions about whether or not Pippen could lead the Bulls without Jordan were quickly answered when he helped lead them to a 55-27 record in 1994, a year after Jordan's first retirement.
Even without MJ, Pippen had already cemented his status as one of the league's true superstars and one which a team could build around. Those of us who got to watch Jordan play alongside one of the greatest small forwards of all time should truly feel blessed to have witnessed such a talented athlete.
P. Albert is huge sports fan. Are you a Scottie Pippen fan or do you love basketball as much as me? Head over to AllSportsPeople for an entire listing of not only your favorite basketball players, but for profiles of athletes from various sports - soccer, MMA and even wresting entertainers as well. Come visit us today.
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