Scottie Pippen

Highlights

He is one of the 50 greatest NBA players ever; He was a key member of 6 NBA Championship teams with the Chicago Bulls; He was a member of the 1992 Men's Basketball Olympic Gold Medal winning Dream Team

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Scottie Pippen is a retired NBA player who is most remembered for leading the Chicago Bulls, together with Michael Jordan, to six championships and for being one of the best all-around players of all time.

Scottie Pippen grew up in Hamburg, Arkansas, attending college at the University of Central Arkansas. At the start of his college career, the then 6'1" Pippen was a walk-on for the NAIA school and depended on his stipend for being the team manager and his summer job as a welder to fund his education. In those four years, however, Pippen grew to a height of 6'7" and improved enough by his senior year to be considered a viable NBA prospect. Pippen's performance in the pre-draft Portsmouth Invitational Tournament also improved his draft stock dramatically. He was selected fifth overall in the 1987 NBA Draft by the Seattle SuperSonics, who immediately traded him to the Chicago Bulls for the eighth pick, Olden Polynice. The trade is regarded as a steal by the Bulls as Pippen would go on to become one of the Top 50 NBA players of all time.

Pippen immediately became part of Chicago's young forward tandem with 6'10" power forward Horace Grant, though both came off the bench to back up Brad Sellers and Charles Oakley, respectively, during their rookie seasons. 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 semifinals for the first time in over a decade.

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. However, in the Conference Finals versus the Detroit Pistons, Pippen would suffer severe migraines during the deciding seventh game which would greatly affect his performance. In 1991, he continued to establish himself as a force to be reckoned with. Pippen emerged as the Bulls' primary defensive stopper and an offensive threat. 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 became known for stellar defense in addition to his consistent scoring, earning 10 NBA All-Defensive Team nods, including 8 on the first team. In 1992, he was named to the original Dream Team which competed in the Olympics in Barcelona, Spain.

Michael Jordan unexpectedly retired in 1993, and the 1994 season marked Pippen's stepping out from Jordan's shadow and he performed 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, assists, and the entire league in steals, averaging 22.0 points, 8.7 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 2.9 steals, 0.9 three-pointers, and 0.8 blocks per game, while shooting 49.1% from the field and a career-best 32% from the three-point line. For his efforts, he earned the first of three straight All-NBA First Team nods, and finished third in the MVP voting. The Bulls finished the season with 55 wins, only two less than their previous championship year with Jordan still on the team.

Upon Jordan's return to the NBA, the Bulls regained their much needed strength. With a revamped roster that included Dennis Rodman and Luc Longley, the Bulls managed to post the best regular season record in NBA history (72-10) en route to winning their fourth title. The next season they finished 69-13 and lost out on the opportunity to win 70 games in back-to-back losses their final 2 games. Nonetheless they again won the title. They followed up by winning again in 1997-98 to cap their second threepeat.

After playing in Chicago for 11 seasons, the Bulls second all-time leader in points, assists, and steals in Bulls franchise history was traded to the Houston Rockets for the lockout-shortened season in 1998?99. Pippen's trade to Houston received a lot of publicity including his only solo cover of Sports Illustrated. While there he teamed with Hakeem Olajuwon and Charles Barkley to form one of the best front lines in NBA history, but his failure to assume the "franchise" mantle from Olajuwon led to chemistry problems (with Barkley in particular) and eventually his departure.

He was traded in the offseason to the Portland Trail Blazers, who he helped to the Western Conference finals, where they lost to the eventual champion, the Los Angeles Lakers, in seven games despite holding a 15 point lead in the fourth quarter of game seven. Pippen played on for several more seasons in Portland, but they never again advanced that far in the playoffs. After the 2002-03 season he re-signed with the Chicago Bulls. However, due to injury problems he was only able to suit up for 23 games in 2003-04 and retired shortly after the season.

Pippen is considered among the best supporting players in NBA history and is also notable for having been a prototypical "point forward", a term which he popularized (and revitalized) with his 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 consistent play for over a decade.

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. On December 25, 2005, Pippen debuted as studio analyst for the NBA on ABC. Before this he was a part-time analyst for ESPN.

The Chicago Bulls retired Pippen's jersey number on December 9, 2005 in a ceremony. The team played against the Los Angeles Lakers that night, and Pippen was reunited with Phil Jackson, Michael Jordan, Dennis Rodman, and Horace Grant during the ceremony. Pippen's jersey number, 33, joins Jordan's 23, Jerry Sloan's 4 and Bob Love's 10 as the only four numbers retired by the Bulls.

Pippen has three children and is married to Assyrian-American Larsa Younan and lives in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

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