Scottie Pippen in the NBA Basketball Hall of Fame

[Michael Terranova]

Michael Jordan to present Scottie Pippen at Hall of Fame

“I can’t think of a better person to do it,” said Pippen of Jordan presenting him at the Hall of Fame. “Michael is someone I shared my career with, accomplishing most of what I have accomplished thus far. He was a great teammate, teacher and admirer.”



_{Bulls legend Scottie Pippen will be presented by Michael Jordan during his induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Friday, Aug. 13 in Springfield, Mass.
(Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE/Getty Images)}

Scottie Pippen | Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame | Class of 2010

By Adam Fluck | 08.09.10

Scottie Pippen and Michael Jordan were side-by-side for countless memories during the Chicago Bulls’ dynasty of the 1990s, winning six world championships in eight seasons.

This Friday in Springfield, Mass., they will come together once again to share what will certainly be a bright spotlight.

Pippen has chosen Jordan to present him during his induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

“I can’t think of a better person to do it,” said Pippen on Monday. “Michael is someone I shared my career with, accomplishing most of what I have accomplished thus far. He was a great teammate, teacher and admirer. I’m excited to have an opportunity to be the first person that he has presented into the Hall of Fame. I figure if anyone deserves to be on the stage with me, it’s him.”

Jordan, who entered basketball’s Hall of Fame last September, selected former North Carolina State star David Thompson to be by his side. Having grown up in North Carolina, Jordan watched as Thompson led the Wolfpack to the NCAA national championship in 1974.

“I was in love with David Thompson,” said Jordan in his speech of his selection. “Not just for the game of basketball, but in terms of what he represented. We all go through our trials and tribulations. He did, and I was inspired by him.”

Later in Jordan’s speech, he mentioned several individuals who pushed and motivated him throughout his career. Shots were taken, in true Jordan style, but he offered sincere thanks to one person immediately after overcoming an initial rush of emotion—his longtime running mate, Pippen.

“In all the videos, you never just saw me,” said Jordan. “You saw Scottie Pippen, every championship I won.”

Perhaps a second option for Pippen, had he needed one, would have been Phil Jackson, but the eleven-time NBA champion as a coach will not attend the ceremony.

“I wish Phil could be there,” said Pippen. “He did so much for me throughout my career, but this will be a lot of fun. It will give Michael and me a chance to be on a big stage together one final time.”

Pippen said Jordan was “thrilled and overwhelmed” by the invitation.

Besides Jordan and Jackson, Pippen said he considered several other Hall of Famers to present him, including Julius Erving, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Moses Malone.

“I had other guys that I thought about, but Michael was by far the obvious choice and an easy one for me to make,” said Pippen.

As for the days to come leading up to his enshrinement both as an individual player and member of the 1992 Dream Team, Pippen said he’s still got a little ways to go before his speech is fine-tuned and ready for prime time. But he’s getting close.

“It’s going to be a work in progress until I’m actually able to deliver it,” said Pippen. “You always tend to change things. I can see myself getting up there, deviating from my original thoughts and speaking from the heart. After all these years, I just want to express all my thoughts about how grateful I am for the game and everything it has given me.”

On Tuesday, Pippen will be joined by friends, family and former teammates at Chicago’s Trump International Hotel & Tower for a private party. Pippen will arrive in Springfield on Thursday and attend the Hall of Fame’s “Reunion Reception,” featuring the Class of 2010 and returning Hall of Famers, that evening. Following a press conference Friday morning, the highlight of the weekend will take place at 6 p.m. on NBA TV, when the 2010 Hall of Fame Enshrinement Ceremony airs live.

“I’m looking forward to it all,” said Pippen of the upcoming festivities. “To be around my teammates, who were always so supportive, will mean a lot. I can’t wait for that moment when I’m up on the stage. It’s a very exciting week for me and I’m ready to embrace it all. It signifies closing the book on my playing career, so I want to take a deep breath, cherish it, and be thankful.”

For Pippen, time has flown by since getting the call from the Hall of Fame at the end of March. He recently took a job with the Bulls as team ambassador and moved his family back to the Chicagoland area to live full-time. While one chapter of his life ends, another begins.

“It will be a thrill to be joining such an elite group and have my day of recognition,” said Pippen of entering the Hall of Fame. “From there, I’m ready to move on. I’m looking forward to being part of the Bulls organization once again and can’t wait for the season to get started.”

Bulls.com and BullsTV will be in Springfield, Mass. for Pippen’s Hall of Fame induction.
Stay tuned all week for more on this historic event

http://www.nba.com/bulls/history/pippenhof_jordan_100809.html

[Michael Terranova]

Jackson: Pippen an obvious choice for Hall of Fame

“Scottie is an obvious choice for the Hall of Fame,” said legendary coach Phil Jackson of Pippen’s upcoming enshrinement. “I know how much he will value this experience and cherish the honor.”





_{"His greatest strength was his knowledge of how things worked on the defensive end of the floor," Jackson said of Pippen. "Scottie was the voice of our team—figuratively and literally, as he did a lot of the talking and kept our team on the same page." (Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE/Getty Images)}

Scottie Pippen | Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame | Class of 2010

By Adam Fluck | 07.30.10

It was a late fall morning very early in Scottie Pippen’s professional career, as it was for Phil Jackson too, for that matter. The Bulls, at the time, held practices at the Deerfield Multiplex, with the coaches’ offices located just off the baseline, only 12 or so feet away from the court.

When Jackson and his staff emerged a few minutes before practice started, they saw Pippen and Michael Jordan on the side of the court working on a segment of the team’s offense called the “corner series.”

“They were making a reverse pivot and Scottie was going to the basket dunking with his left hand,” Jackson recalled in a recent phone interview with Bulls.com. “Michael was trying to learn from Scottie how to get the steps right to finish with his left hand. That was something that Scottie could do which Michael wanted in his repertoire.”

Yes, even the game’s greatest player ever learned a thing or two from his teammates from time to time. But Pippen, of course, was no typical teammate. Though he and Jordan had their ups and downs throughout their time together, Jackson’s seemingly insignificant anecdote signified the kind of relationship they had—one that started early on and continued throughout Chicago’s dynasty of the 1990s.

“It was the tremendous amount of respect that they had for each other,” Jackson said regarding why Pippen and Jordan’s relationship worked. “They both worked incredibly hard on their game, always putting in the extra work to be better players. They had an understanding of how to get a job accomplished and there was regular collaboration between the two of them that brought an incredible amount of success to that basketball team.”




_{“Michael came back from the Olympics and he told me Scottie was the second best player on that team,” said Jackson of Jordan, Pippen and the 1992 Dream Team.
(NBAE/Getty Images)}
On Aug. 13, Pippen will join Jordan and Jackson in basketball’s Hall of Fame. The moment will come some 24 years after the legendary coach first saw Pippen, a lanky, relatively unknown out of Central Arkansas, a NAIA school at the time.

It was the summer of 1986 and Jackson was coaching his last season for the Albany Patroons of the Continental Basketball Association. He watched as Pippen put on a show during a draft combine.

“He showed a remarkable amount of capabilities playing the guard position given his size,” said Jackson. “He also demonstrated a tremendous level of activity on both ends of the floor and fast breaks. Defensively, you could see he had a great deal of talent.”

The next fall, the two were paired together in Chicago—Pippen as a rookie with the Bulls and Jackson as one of Doug Collins’ assistant coaches.

“We quickly developed a relationship because of that,” said Jackson. “We would occasionally play one-on-one, as I was able to still play a little bit of basketball.”

Though Pippen did not start right away, averaging only 7.9 points per game his first season, he worked his way into the starting five for good by the time the 1988 NBA Playoffs rolled around.

“It seemed like every time he got on the court, good things would happen,” Jackson recalled. “He had an opportunity to help us win games almost immediately, many times from the defensive end of the floor.”

While Jordan scored at a torrid pace, Pippen quickly became the anchor of the team, providing the stability it greatly needed as the 1990s approached. His scoring came around as well, as his production increased in each of his first five professional seasons.

Though Jackson had played Pippen at the small forward position early in his career, a seemingly obvious choice given his 6-7, 228-pound frame, he made a change heading into his fourth year.

“I always felt Scottie’s contribution to our team became elevated when we moved him from being a forward to a guard in the 1990-91 season,” said Jackson. “Using Scottie at the guard position within the triangle offense allowed him to do all the things that he did so well.”

Defensively, Jackson explained, Pippen had made his mark by then, knowing when to overplay, make steals and play help defense. The shift to the backcourt allowed him to do all of those things on opposing shooting guards, while also taking better advantage of his offensive skills.

“He would rebound and push the ball, which really put us in an ideal situation to set up our offense,” explained Jackson. “His skills at guard with the basketball in his hands put a tremendous amount of pressure on opponents to match up.”



_{"When Michael retired for the first time and left to play baseball, Scottie took over the leadership of the team," Jackson said of the 1993-94 season. "We all saw him bloom into a star."
(NBAE/Getty Images)}
Taking advantage of Pippen’s size and versatility was perhaps never more useful than during Chicago’s first championship run.

Taking on the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1991 NBA Finals, the Bulls lost the first game, 93-91, at the old Chicago Stadium. Jackson made a switch and assigned Pippen to Magic Johnson for the rest of the series, resulting in four straight victories and the organization’s first of six NBA titles.

Not long after, Pippen was chosen to join the Jordan, Magic, Larry Bird and the best of the NBA on the 1992 Dream Team, which will also be enshrined in the Hall of Fame on Aug. 13. That team easily captured gold in Barcelona, captivating the world’s attention and dominating its competition.

Jackson recalled a conversation he had with Jordan following the Dream Team’s legendary run.

“Michael came back from the Olympics and he told me Scottie was the second best player on that team,” said Jackson. “People knew he was a pretty good sidekick to Michael, but all of a sudden, they were starting to recognize that he was a legitimate star in his own right who had really developed over the prior three to four years. He wasn’t just an active, defensive small forward anymore. He was a player who could excel at three, if not four, positions. He was a real force on our team in that regard and Michael recognized that.”

But Pippen’s best work had yet to come. Following the Bulls’ first three championships, Jordan unexpectedly walked away from the game on October 6, 1993. A heavy onus was placed squarely on Pippen’s shoulders, and there was some doubt as to how he might respond.

“When Michael retired for the first time and left to play baseball, Scottie took over the leadership of the team,” Jackson said of the 1993-94 season. “We all saw him bloom into a star. He was MVP of the All-Star game and finished third in the NBA MVP voting. He stepped into his role and had a terrific season.”

That season didn’t start out so great, though. Pippen missed a small stretch due to injury, including the team’s annual Circus Trip, and the Bulls struggled, losing six out of seven games and falling to a record of 4-7 early in the season. Pippen returned on Nov. 30, as the Bulls came home to Chicago to take on the Suns and attempted to get back on track.

“He had a huge game,” Jackson said of Pippen, who finished with 29 points, 11 rebounds and six assists in a 132-113 win. “But it was more than that. Scottie established the fact that we were going to be fine. He showed that night he was going to be comfortable taking over that leadership role. He of course went on to have a great season and we had a great year.”

Whereas Jordan and Bill Cartwright had previously been team captions, Jackson praised Pippen for taking the initiative to step up and embrace that role.

“Scottie moved into that position with a tremendous amount of comfort,” said Jackson. “He was always a very good person on and off the court. He understood his teammates and he helped them out. That was a major development in Scottie’s career.”

For Jackson, pinpointing Pippen’s finest qualities from a career that spanned 17 seasons and seven NBA All-Star appearances comes down to defense.

“His greatest strength was his knowledge of how things worked on the defensive end of the floor,” he said. “Scottie was the voice of our team—figuratively and literally, as he did a lot of the talking and kept our team on the same page. When he wasn’t at the top of the key harassing a guard as a special assignment, he was on the backside of our defense talking his teammates through different situations, whether it was a double team, trap or some other important aspect. Because of that, he was very vital to the run that we made.”

Given Pippen’s knowledge and his new role as team ambassador for the Bulls, Jackson said he wouldn’t be surprised to see Pippen eventually work his way into the coaching ranks.

“Scottie has a great understanding of basketball. I think that he would make a good coach and there is an opportunity for him,” said Jackson, who does not plan on attending the enshrinement ceremony in Springfield, Mass.

“I’m really glad that he’s back with the Bulls and has a chance to find his way in whatever capacity he ends up around the game,” Jackson continued. “This is his opportunity to really re-establish himself back in Chicago, where he didn’t get the chance to play all that much when he closed out his career.”

http://www.nba.com/bulls/history/pippenhof_jackson_100730.html

[Michael Terranova]

Originaly posted "On The Road with Marty Blake".
1) Scottie Pippen (Central Arkansas) – Drafted in the first round of the 1987 NBA Draft as the fifth pick by Seattle and then traded to the Chicago Bulls for Olden Polynice who was taken as the seventh pick in the first round

I had invited a player named J.P. Lovelady (Arkansas Tech) to come to our rookie summer camp in the 1960s when I was GM of the St. Louis Hawks. He was 6-5 ½ and 210 and played both the two and the three and I felt I really had a sleeper since I knew I didn’t even have to draft him. I felt I had discovered another Jerry Sloan and planned to sign him when he arrived in St. Louis. As fate would have it, he was killed in an auto accident before our camp. I made arrangements for flowers and to attend his funeral.

Going quickly forward, near 20 years later I received a call from Archie Jones, who reminded me that he was a freshman on the Arkansas Tech team when Lovelady was a senior. He was now an assistant coach at Central Arkansas and had a junior player who he said had NBA potential. He reminded me of my interest in Lovelady and said, “You have to see this kid play.” He pointed out that Pippen was a little older and more mature than most college players.

I told everyone about him and some teams sent scouts to see him that next season but few turned in glowing reports. An associate of Chicago’s Jerry Krause told him the game was like a YMCA church league game and you couldn’t tell a thing. M.K. Turk, the genial head coach of Southern Mississippi, came to the rescue. He scheduled Central Arkansas on his fall schedule. I flew down to Hattiesburg unannounced, bought a ticket and sat way up in the stands to watch Pippen score 37 (more or less). A quick call to the PIT headquarters earned him an invite to that tourney and the rest is history. Credit Krause for making the moves to get him; Portland was ready to grab him at No. 6 until Jerry switched deals with the Sonics. Scottie played 17 years in the NBA.
EP

[Michael Terranova]

Armstrong: Tough to match up with Pippen’s versatility

"I don't know what position Scottie was; he was just a basketball player," said B.J. Armstrong of Bulls legend Scottie Pippen, who will be enshrined in basketball's Hall of Fame on Aug. 13. "He could dribble, shoot, pass and rebound. Defensively, he was excellent. He had quick hands and quick feet with a great understanding of the game. He could do it all."



“Scottie's game changed with where he was at physically,” said B.J. Armstrong of Pippen. “He wasn’t the same player at 21 as he was at 30. Both he and Michael aged gracefully in this league and that’s the beauty of being a professional player. You continue to grow and continue to change your game, but you do it to be just as effective.”
(Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE/Getty Images)

Scottie Pippen | Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame | Class of 2010

By Adam Fluck | 08.03.10

There was a player everyone called “Buck” who B.J. Armstrong and just about everyone else from Michigan watched during the late 1970s and into the 1980s. Buck grew up in Lansing, won the NCAA tournament with Michigan State, and claimed five NBA championships with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Buck, of course, was Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. Years later, Armstrong, in his second season as a pro, was a reserve player for the Bulls, who were playing Magic’s Lakers for their first championship in the 1991 NBA Finals.

Los Angeles stole Game 1 in Chicago and Game 2 looked like more of the same in the first half. There was talk that perhaps the Bulls weren’t quite yet ready to win it all. Then, Head Coach Phil Jackson made a switch and tasked Scottie Pippen with defending Magic for the rest of the series. The move paid off.

“Scottie was so versatile as a player, as was Magic, who was a point guard at 6-9, and he for the first time matched his presence on the floor,” Armstrong said of the match up. “I thought that was a turning point for us in that series because with Scottie on Magic, we could match them size for size, speed for speed, and everything else about the physicality of that match up.”

The Bulls went on to take four consecutive games for their first of six NBA titles. By the time of the team’s third one in 1993, Armstrong had solidified a spot in the starting lineup. Looking back on Pippen’s career in a recent interview, it’s the versatility that keeps coming to mind for Armstrong.



Armstrong came to the Bulls in 1989, just two seasons after Pippen and Horace Grant’s arrival. It didn’t take long for the youth to mesh with Michael Jordan, making them the dominant force in the NBA of the 1990s.
(Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE/Getty Images)
“I don’t know what position Scottie was; he was just a basketball player,” said Armstrong of Pippen, who will be enshrined in basketball’s Hall of Fame on Aug. 13. “He could dribble, shoot, pass and rebound. Defensively, he was excellent. He had quick hands and quick feet with a great understanding of the game. He could do it all.”

Armstrong came to the Bulls in 1989, just two seasons after Pippen and Horace Grant’s arrival. It didn’t take long for the youth to mesh with Michael Jordan, making them the dominant force in the NBA of the 1990s.

“I was very fortunate to be playing alongside some great players for wonderful coaches in a terrific organization,” said Armstrong. “We were all young. But when you put a group of young people together and give them an opportunity to grow and experience their trials and tribulations, good things can happen.”

Coming from the Midwest and playing in the Big 10 at Iowa, Armstrong didn’t have a lot in common at first with Pippen, who grew up in Arkansas and attended Central Arkansas.

“I didn’t know much about Scottie,” admitted Armstrong. “He came from a small school, but it became very apparent that he was a special talent—so long and athletic. The thing that made him very unique as a player is that he would rebound the basketball and then push it up and initiate the break. That’s very tough to defend going against that kind of player, and he excelled at it.”

Where Pippen really made his mark was practice, Armstrong said, where he and Jordan set a standard in which teammates had no choice but to follow.

“As good as he was in games—and he was terrific—he was that much better in practice,” recalled Armstrong. “He and Michael were the best practice players I’ve ever seen. I have no idea why they loved it so much or what their reasoning was, but they enjoyed practice. Scottie never complained about practice; he always showed up with that smile on his face. He was a great practice player and the ultimate professional in that regard.”

To Armstrong, talent and toughness are two qualities a team needs to win in the NBA. Jordan's and Pippen’s talents were obvious to everyone, but the way that they carried the responsibility of being the hardest workers on the team made them the best of the best.

“If your best players are taking a shortcut, they’re going to have problems holding everyone else accountable and responsible. Both Michael and Scottie were very accountable and responsible young men to their team, the franchise and themselves. They took their jobs very seriously and that made everyone else hold themselves accountable.”

Pippen’s leadership was tested in the fall of 1993, when Jordan announced his first retirement. The Bulls faced life without their leader following three straight championships and uncertainty was in the air. But Pippen was ready to respond and Chicago went 55-27 that season.

“Scottie had one of his greatest years and he was an MVP-type performer,” said Armstrong of the 1993-94 campaign. “He was incredible and he had an opportunity to explore every aspect of his game. We had a great year and certainly exceeded anyone’s expectations of what we were going to do minus Michael and that was an achievement in itself.

“The ultimate prize is to play in the final game of the season and we didn’t do that,” Armstrong continued. “But we all proved to ourselves that we could do it. When Michael did come back, his confidence, plus the year or so we had without him, gave us even greater confidence as a team.”

Though Pippen, Armstrong and the Bulls did fall short of the Finals, they put to rest the constant ‘what if Michael were here?’ mentality which was ingrained in the team’s minds. And while Pippen excelled, so did Armstrong, who averaged a career-best 14.8 points per game that year and was voted a starter in the 1994 NBA All-Star Game.

Statistically speaking, Pippen was at his best without Jordan, notching career bests in scoring (22.0 ppg), rebounding (8.7 rpg), and steals (2.93 spg). But Armstrong insisted that his intangibles made him such a valuable teammate.

“He always had a smile on his face. That was Scottie,” said Armstrong. “Everyone talks about a great teammate, but he really was a great guy to play with. He may have been having a 25 or 30-point game, but if he knew you were struggling, he’d find a way to get you going as well.”

As the book on Pippen’s playing career is essentially closed with the highest honor of the game next week in Springfield, Mass., Armstrong echoed the comments made by so many who played with No. 33.

“Tremendous teammate, that’s what comes to mind when I think of Scottie Pippen,” said Armstrong. “He was a very caring teammate who was always concerned about the team. The way he played and expressed himself on the floor exemplified who he was as a player. He was so versatile—he could defend, rebound and pass. He had a great understanding of the game and he was a wonderful athlete. He is so deserving of being in the Hall of Fame.”

http://www.nba.com/bulls/history/pippenhof_armstrong_100803.html?rss=true

[Michael Terranova]

Myers: Pippen was the Jack of all trades
“The credit goes to Scottie,” said former teammate and longtime friend Pete Myers of Pippen’s induction to the Hall of Fame. “This guy came in as a raw athlete with a decent skill level and turned himself into one of the elite players in the league. Now he is being recognized as one of the best.”



^{It was at the end of the 1993-94 season, in Game Six of the Eastern Conference Semifinals as the Bulls faced the Knicks at the old Chicago Stadium, when Pete Myers had perhaps his most notable assist. Most fans know it simply as the “Ewing Dunk.”
(Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE/Getty Images)}

Scottie Pippen | Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame | Class of 2010

By Adam Fluck | 08.04.10

When Pete Myers first crossed paths with Scottie Pippen, Myers was a junior at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, while Pippen played for Central Arkansas just 20 minutes down the road.

One of Myers’ teammates grew up with Pippen in tiny Hamburg, Arkansas, population 3,000, and Pippen would occasionally join Myers’ group for pickup games in the summer. What they saw on the floor was a small taste of what was to come.

“He was the best player in the gym,” said Myers. “He may have been at an NAIA school, but his talent was superior to ours on a Division I team. He was a long athlete, the run and jump type. We were that type of team at Little Rock; we pressed all the time and played like UNLV did. Scottie couldn’t shoot all that well back then, but he had a very good skill level.”



_{"I never viewed Scottie as a guy who needed to score hoops to feel good about himself. That wasn’t his motivation," said Myers of Pippen. "He was always about wins and losses."
(Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE/Getty Images)}
Myers attempted to get Pippen to transfer and join him in Little Rock, but it didn’t work out. Little did he know, they would be teammates down the road at the next level.

Myers joined the Bulls for the 1986-87 season and the following summer, then General Manager Jerry Krause asked him for input on Pippen. Myers shared with him what he knew and on draft night, the team orchestrated a trade with Seattle to acquire Pippen. Along with the selection of Horace Grant later in the evening, the team’s core for the first three championships, with Michael Jordan on his way to becoming a seasoned NBA veteran, had been solidified.

“It was a shock to a lot of people,” said Myers of the reaction in Arkansas to Pippen’s rise to the NBA. “When you come from an NAIA school and get picked fifth in the draft, that’s huge. It’s hard to evaluate talent when you aren’t going against Duke, North Carolina or the other major schools with some of the best talent. It’s hard to get a true measurement.”

While Myers came in as a 23-year old rookie and played behind Jordan, the starter at small forward during Pippen’s first season was Brad Sellers. Training camp was much longer in those days—almost a month as opposed to less than a week now—so players had more of an opportunity to fight for a starting job.

“Over that period, I didn’t know when Doug [Collins, Pippen’s head coach for his first two seasons] was going to pull the trigger, but I knew then that Scottie was a better player,” said Myers of moving Pippen to the starting five.

In Pippen’s 79 games his first year, he didn’t start, averaging a modest 7.9 points per game in a reserve role. His minutes dramatically increased in his second season, from 20.9 as a rookie to 33.1 per game, as did his productivity (14.1 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.9 steals per game).

Myers ultimately ended up joining the Spurs for the 1987-88 season, but he returned to the Bulls for the 1993-94 campaign, when he was handed the unenviable task of stepping into Michael Jordan’s starting shooting guard spot following his first retirement. One might think the pressure was enormous with such shoes to fill, but Myers said it was the opposite.

“It was easy on me,” Myers explained. “I came to a team that had just won three championships and there wasn’t a lot of pressure on us. The big star had left, and it was like, whatever you guys can do, the city is going to appreciate it.”

That season, the Bulls proved there was life without Jordan. Pippen led his team to a 55-27 regular season record and Game Seven of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. In his best individual season, he finished third in the NBA’s MVP voting and was named the All-Star Game’s MVP.

“It gave us a chance to see Scottie in a different light—not as the second fiddle guy, but the head guy,” recalled Myers. “I thought he was outstanding. I used to go home and watch the games when they’d come on at 2 in the morning. He was just unbelievable. I never viewed Scottie as a guy who needed to score hoops to feel good about himself. That wasn’t his motivation. He was always about wins and losses.”

Pippen’s ability to affect the game on both ends of the floor propelled the Bulls to exceed expectations that year, said Myers.

“Scottie was the anchorman,” he explained. “He was the Jack of all trades and did everything for us—he rebounded the ball, made plays, and had assists to Steve [Kerr] and those guys to make sure they felt like they belonged. Defensively, he guarded on the perimeter and the interior. He did everything imaginable, which made everyone else’s job kind of easy.”

It was at the end of that season, in Game Six of the 1994 Eastern Conference Semifinals as the Bulls faced the Knicks at the old Chicago Stadium, when Myers had perhaps his most notable assist. Most fans know it simply as the “Ewing Dunk.”

“My body was turned, not facing the rim, but facing the backcourt,” said Myers of receiving a pass on a fast break from B.J. Armstrong. “I could see Scottie out of the corner of my eye sprinting down the lane. When I caught it, I just flung it to him. The great thing about Scottie, Michael and Horace too, is that they had some of the best hands in the business. They’re like baseball gloves. It wasn’t a great pass at all, but he was able to, in rhythm and fluently, scoop it up and take off.”

The end result was a monstrous dunk over the seven-foot Ewing that sent him to the floor as Pippen hovered above him.

As great of a play as that was for Pippen and the Bulls, Myers doesn’t feel it was Pippen’s defining moment. He points back to when Pippen's 29 points, 11 rebounds, and four steals led the East to a 127-118 victory at the 1994 NBA All-Star Game in Minneapolis.

Pippen and his red Nikes dazzled a capacity crowd of 17,096 at the Target Center, earning unanimous selection by an 11-member media panel as the game's Most Valuable Player. Pippen's 9-for-15 shooting night included 5-of-9 accuracy from three-point range.

“For a few years, Scottie didn’t get to start on the All-Star team because of Larry Bird,” Myers noted. “With Jordan out of the game, he was representing the Bulls, along with B.J. Armstrong and Horace Grant. I remember thinking there was a chance he’d get MVP. I know it’s just the All-Star Game, but when you can stand out among your peers, that’s always a defining moment. At that moment, he saw himself, if not being the elite guy in the league, then as one of the top two or three for sure. It ignited him and he came back after the break more focused and in tune.”

As Pippen prepares to join the game’s greats in the Hall of Fame on Aug. 13, Myers said it’s a fitting end for a star who worked his way to the top.

“Sometimes with an elite star like Michael, it’s hard to notice the others,” said Myers of Pippen’s Bulls career. “But Chicago really recognized that this guy, although maybe not as good as Michael, wasn’t that far away. We were blessed to see two stars on this Bulls team. The credit goes to Scottie. This guy came in as a raw athlete with a decent skill level and turned himself into one of the elite players in the league. Now he is being recognized as one of the best. That’s the ultimate and it’s where every guy when they first start out is trying to go.”

http://www.nba.com/bulls/history/pippenhof_myers_100804.html

[Michael Terranova]

Grant: Pippen had the hunger to be great

"He loved the game and the team," said Grant of Pippen. "He was unselfish, but unselfish to a fault. We knew when he had the ball he was going to make a play and score or find the open guy. We had some great times."



_{No one ever will overshadow Michael Jordan and his brilliance that led to six championships. But it was the additions of Pippen and Grant that established the Bulls as contenders and it was Pippen's willingness to fill in every left over blank that became the missing puzzle piece for the Bulls' success. (Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE/Getty Images)}

The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Chicago Bulls. All opinions expressed by Sam Smith are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Chicago Bulls or its Basketball Operations staff, parent company, partners, or sponsors. His sources are not known to the Bulls and he has no special access to information beyond the access and privileges that go along with being an NBA accredited member of the media.

Scottie Pippen | Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame | Class of 2010

By Sam Smith | asksam@bulls.com | 08.11.10 | 10:45 a.m. CT

 
Horace Grant said he knew his buddy was destined for greatness. And if anyone really knew, it was Horace, who teamed with Scottie Pippen when they came to the Bulls together in the 1987 draft like Butch and Sundance, Damon and Pythias.

It was all about trust, loyalty and teamwork.

"We came to that first press conference when the Bulls were introducing us and we just hit it off," said Grant, whose friendship with Pippen became something of a legend around the Bulls virtually to the point of the duo doing everything together and even dressing alike.

"Both rookies, from small towns. It became sort of a security thing," says Grant. "Not because of danger, but we needed a friend. It wasn't a young team and you had Michael and he was such a big star already, so we just came together.

"Yeah, we always shopped together, too (they bought identical dogs, houses and cars and compared notes on what to wear to the games)," recalled Grant. "We'd go to Rochester Big and Tall and get the same clothes. But different colors."

Now you can color Grant proud as he'll see his buddy Pippen reach the ultimate in the sport when Pippen is inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass. Friday.

"Here we are rookies coming in to play against the best players and we have one of the best on our team and you don't know what to expect," said Grant, who now lives quietly in Northern California where he trains dogs and horses and does some basketball tutoring. "You make a lot of mistakes and you are not used to the criticisms you get at such a young age. So you need, in a way, a shoulder to cry on, someone to vent to and offer advice.

"But one thing right away about Scottie," said Grant. "He wanted to be one of the best at his position and felt he would be. He had that hunger. You knew he was going to be a great player even at that time because he was so sure and you saw the work he put in. The sky was the limit with Scottie because he was so gifted as a basketball player."

And Grant said everyone could see what he and his teammates did in the 1991 Finals when the Bulls won their first championship by defeating the Los Angeles Lakers.

"If I had a vote in that first championship for MVP it would have been Scottie," said Grant. "He brought his whole game and everyone could see. The way he played Magic (Johnson) and made him turn and turn and turn and made him work like that was the difference, especially after we lost the first game. And he averaged more than 20 points. I think he was our leading scorer when we won."

In fact, Pippen did score 32 points in the clinching Game 5 to lead the Bulls in scoring. He also led the team in rebounding in the series, and that Game 5 clincher was one of the truly amazing, if typically overlooked — given Pippen's history — great Finals games. Pippen also led both teams with 13 rebounds, had five steals and was 11 of 12 in free throws in breaking down the Lakers' defense. And with Jordan he shredded the Lakers' offense in Game 4 with an aggressive trap that held the Lakers to about 37 percent shooting in a rout.

Pippen, obviously, wasn't someone who went unnoticed with a series of controversies that Grant shared with him in long talks.

"Things happen, people make mistakes and I believe if Scottie didn't make some of them he wouldn't be the person he is now who matured," said Grant. "He learned from mistakes and grew up. He came to understand to be in the position he was in you cannot take nights off. And it wasn't easy being Michael Jordan's sidekick. He learned and did the things needed to be done to be successful.

"After I left the Bulls (for Orlando in 1994), I'd look up and see some of the controversies and think, 'Wow.' But other guys could not go through that and he grew up in the league," said Grant.

So the favorite?

Grant said it was that 1993-94 season.

"When Michael retired, Scottie became our leader and we were one phantom foul from playing Indiana in the Eastern Conference finals," said Grant. "And we beat them that season (4-1, including the last meeting in Indianapolis). That season showed his leadership and that he could carry a team. He had to step into that role and he did, and we were successful, more than anyone thought we ever could be. Everyone wrote us off, but we knew the kind of players we had and we knew how good Scottie was. I wasn't surprised at all."

No one ever will overshadow Michael Jordan and his brilliance that led to six championships. But it was the additions of Pippen and Grant that established the Bulls as contenders and it was Pippen's willingness to fill in every left over blank that became the missing puzzle piece for the Bulls' success.

Pippen defended; he passed; he shot when necessary, developing a reliable three pointer. And whether planned or not he took on his share of the pressure of success with his various controversies and survived and endured.

"He was the most popular teammate we had," says Grant. "You could laugh with him and joke and he wasn't the kind of guy who got mad. He was a fun teammate, fun to be around and always cared about everyone. If you had a problem, you could always talk it out with him. And he loved the game and the team. He was unselfish, but unselfish to a fault. We knew when he had the ball he was going to make a play and score or find the open guy. We had some great times."

[Michael Terranova]

Rodman: Don’t compare LeBron to Pippen
by Adam Fluck
Posted on Aug 13
LeBron James, given his size and remarkable all-around abilities, has been compared to Bulls legend Scottie Pippen before. The parallels became even stronger with James’ decision to join Dwyane Wade in Miami, creating a Jordan and Pippen-like combination in some minds.

But Pippen’s former teammate, Dennis Rodman, swiftly dismissed that notion on Thursday following an autograph session at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

“People talk about LeBron,” said Rodman. “You’ve got to understand, LeBron has no business even being in the same conversation with Scottie. Scottie was the epitome of the (do it all elite player). What do you want me to say? Scottie was great.”

Just as so many of his other teammates have regularly done, Rodman was only following suit for the player who garnered so much respect throughout his 17 season career and will enter basketball’s Hall of Fame Friday in Springfield, Mass.

“Scottie was supportive. Michael was like his big brother and I came in as the black sheep of the family,” Rodman said of his Chicago arrival in 1995. “I did my wild thing, but it was cool and we kept it together. Scottie was right in the middle of that team and he supported us all.”

In Rodman’s first season, of course, the Bulls were at their very best, starting the season with a 41-3 record and finishing with a league-record 72 wins. Following Horace Grant’s departure, Rodman was acquired by the Bulls in a trade for Will Perdue, who was sent to the San Antonio Spurs.

It was considered a fairly risky move adding the unpredictable Rodman, but under Phil Jackson, Jordan and Pippen’s umbrella, the player known as “The Worm” continued to do his thing. He turned in another season as the NBA’s best rebounder, averaging 14.9 per game.

Rodman actually was the league’s rebounding champion for seven straight seasons, from 1992 to 1998. While speaking at the Hall of Fame, he couldn’t help but make his case to eventually be enshrined with the game’s greats.

“I’ve had a helluva run. I think being here signifies that I should be in someday, one day before I die,” said Rodman.

Given his resume—five-time NBA champion, seven-time NBA All-Defensive First Team, two-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year and two-time NBA All-Star—the argument is certainly valid.

“It’s up to the people here,” said Rodman. “I don’t know what they’re going to do or what they’re going to put a scale on whether Dennis Rodman should be in with all of his off court antics. But look at the history of sports. You’ve had alcoholics in baseball, **** addicts in basketball. You tell me.

“Not to toot my own horn, but I think a lot of people in the community are probably a little envious because I’m such a showman,” Rodman continued. “I’d love to be in for my kids, mostly for them.”

http://blogs.bulls.com/2010/08/rodman-dont-compare-pippen-to-lebron/

[Michael Terranova]

Paxson: Pippen was very encouraging as a teammate



"The subtle things that he did so well-defensively helping his teammates, recovering out to guys offensively, making plays, being unselfish-those are things that teammates always recognize and noticed," John Paxson said of Scottie Pippen. "You always felt like Scottie had your back."



"When I first got the job as general manager, I really wanted to try and bring Scottie back," Paxson said of Pippen, shown above announcing his retirement. "I was hopeful more than anything that he would be able to put a stamp on our young players at that time. Scottie came in and did and said all the right things."
(Adam Fluck/Chicago Bulls)

Scottie Pippen | Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame | Class of 2010

By Adam Fluck | 08.12.10

Bulls Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations John Paxson was a teammate of Scottie Pippen's for seven seasons, including the organization's first three championships in 1991, 1992 and 1993. Following Paxson's retirement, he joined Phil Jackson's coaching staff for one season, the 1995-96 campaign in which Michael Jordan and Pippen's Bulls finished with an NBA-best record of 72-10. He connected again with Pippen in the fall of 2003, when he signed the veteran to a two-year deal, giving the legend the opportunity to end his pro career where it began. Now, as Pippen returns for his third stint with the Bulls at team ambassador and enters basketball's Hall of Fame, Paxson recalls his illustrious career, the qualities that made him such a popular teammate and leading Chicago to 55 wins without Jordan in 1993-94.

What comes to mind when you think of Scottie, given you've seen him from the perspective of a teammate, coach and general manager over the years?

"I know a lot of guys have talked about the kind of teammate that he was, and it is dead on. Scottie was very encouraging as a teammate. He was the type of guy that if you weren't playing well, or you missed a few shots in a row or had your head hanging down, he was going to encourage you to look for your shot. That was really important for a lot of us because we respected him as a player, and as a person, for the way he approached the game and worked at his craft. The fact that he would encourage the majority of his time was a big thing for us."

When you talk about Scottie encouraging, is there a moment that comes to mind in the locker room or behind closed doors that the general public might not see or understand?

"I remember often in games, with me, if I was struggling with my shot, he would keep looking for me. He would keep saying, 'One's going to go down.' It's just how he was and that was pretty important for us. We all understood the pecking order, believe me. But to have one of your best players out there encouraging and wanting you to do well was always important. I've seen him in a lot of different lights. When I first got the job as general manager, I really wanted to try and bring Scottie back. Unfortunately, his knee wasn't in good shape as any of us would have liked to have him play. I was hopeful more than anything that he would be able to put a stamp on our young players at that time. We were kind of a disjointed group; guys that didn't necessarily care about the right things playing. This was 2003 and we had a lot of different young guys. Scottie came in and did and said all the right things. Unfortunately, that group wasn't ready to hear a lot of what he had to say. It's not a coincidence that most of the guys from that team weren't with us very long. Scottie said the right things and I was glad we were able to bring him back and he ended his career in a Bulls uniform."

Those qualities that you just mentioned, might they make Scottie a great coach someday if he chooses to go that route?

"I think so. I think that in coaching today, you have to be smart. There's no question about that. You have to have a balance between challenging and letting guys know that they're doing the right things out there on the floor. One of the underrated things about Scottie, always, is how smart he is as a basketball player and a basketball person. He can see things. In terms of decision maker on the floor, he was very, very good. Here's a guy that is 6-8 and for all tense and purposes was our point guard. He handled the ball, made decisions, got us into offense, and had to make plays to set us up. Scottie and I have talked about this over the years. A lot of guys who get out of the game need to see what life is like without the game for a while, especially the great ones. They got to see what it's like without the game. It's funny how they do tend to come back to it, because they know it so well and it draws them in. I'm personally thrilled that he's back with us in this capacity. It allows him to be around more and see where the organization is at. We welcome him in and I'm personally thrilled that he's doing something for us."

Touching on his basketball IQ, one place that really helped him out was on the defensive end of the floor. Did you ever play with a better defender in your time and how does he rank among the best of the best defenders?

"It's hard. Michael was a great defender as well. Scottie could probably defend more positions. Guys have an ability to defend on the ball which he can do, and he could defend point guards to some power forwards because of his length. But he's also a tremendous help defender. One of the things that made us good during that time, defensively-a lot of credit is given to the athleticism of Michael, Scottie, and Horace, which is true-was the fact that you have to be tied in as a defensive unit. Scottie was really, really good at providing help. He knew with his length where to play guys. He knew how much to give ground on the perimeter so he could be in position to help on post passes or penetration. Those are just things again that made him such a smart player. They didn't go unnoticed by his teammates. That's probably the biggest thing. The subtle things that he did so well-defensively helping his teammates, recovering out to guys offensively, making plays, being unselfish-those are things that teammates always recognize and noticed. You always felt like Scottie had your back. If you made a mistake somewhere on the floor, he was going to try and cover up for you. Like I said, those are things that all of us respected and appreciated about him."

In your final season, you have called it Scottie's defining year, which was also his favorite season. What did you see from him that maybe you hadn't before in the 1993-94 campaign?

"It was the first time he was in a position of leadership more on his own than any other time. Nothing really changed. What people don't remember about that year was that we got off to a real slow start. Scottie was hurt at the beginning of the year and we were 4-7 coming back at the end of an early trip. At that point, we were kind of disjointed because we were trying to incorporate [Toni] Kukoc into the lineup. I had a good view because I was hurt for most of the year. It was at that point that I think Scottie got in his mind, 'You know what? This is my team. I've got to lead.' And he did. It's really remarkable when you think about it. 55 wins is terrific. It became a 70-game season because we started off 4-7. That was really when mentally it kicked in for him. We always knew he could do it. I think the one thing I found interesting that year was that statistically, things didn't change much for him. He didn't look at it like he had to take on everything, and that's where teammates loved him. He had his best statistical year, but he found a way to make his teammates feel a part of it, reward them when they were open, and do all those things that he had done before, but not just in a little different role. So many people had written us off that year because we didn't have Michael. Everyone said that we were going to win 25-30 games. Scottie kind of said, 'Nope, it's not going to happen.' He led us to 55."

What was your experience like as an assistant coach as the Bulls went 72-10, seeing Pippen and the rest of the players from that role on the bench?

"Well, I knew who they were, what they represented, and how hard they worked. Nothing really changed. By that point, Michael and Scottie had to incorporate Dennis [Rodman] into the mix. That wasn't necessarily a real easy thing to do at the very beginning. I think that year that I was looking at the game a little differently, I had a greater appreciation for how good and how smart a player Scottie was. As a player, you can get caught up on your own and what you're doing out there. But when you're on the staff, you look at everything. I had a great appreciation going in that year, but it definitely grew watching them from a different seat."

Is it possible for you to think of Scottie without thinking of Michael, and vice versa?

"They are always going be linked, there's no question about that. Scottie went out on his own obviously to Houston and Portland, and had great years there. To have won six championships together in an eight-year span, they'll always be linked, no question."

You talk about the six championships in eight seasons; do you think there will be another team that can match a run like moving forward?

"It's possible. You never know in this business, but I wouldn't discount it, that's for sure."

In closing, what are your thoughts in general on Scottie as he's ready to enter the Hall of Fame this weekend?

"I'm thinking about when he first came here, and he was raw as a player. He wasn't as confident in front of cameras and the media. One of the great things I guess I can take with me as being so lucky to have played with him and Michael, I was able to see him develop as a player and a person. When he came into the league, he had these great tools like length and athleticism. One of the things I remember about his first year was that he had this gift of getting the ball off the board and taking it lengths of the court, but he had a real high dribble. He often times would come out of there like a colt, a defender would be there, and they'd take it away from him. As time went on, he obviously learned that he had to come out a little lower with the ball and make his plays that way. It was part of a learning process for him. I felt like I was able to see him grow so much as a player and as a person. I really am happy for him and proud that he gets to stand up in front of the greats of the game and accept being included. There's no question that he absolutely deserves it."