Wednesday, October 06, 2004
He was never my favorite... But give Scottie Pippen some credit now that he has retired. He could have been known as the guy who blamed a god-awful performance in Game 7 of the 1990 Eastern Conference Finals at Detroit on a migraine headache.
His claim to fame could have been the 1.8 seconds he sat out in the 1994 playoffs, even though Toni Kukoc hit a game-winning shot.
He could have been known as the moody sidekick to Michael Jordan who never was as great after he left the Bulls in a trade he demanded.
And the way his career ended, his legacy with the Bulls could have been the enormous salary he more or less stole last year.
But that's not how Pippen the player will be remembered. I'll remember him as the defender the Bulls so desperately needed in the 1991 Finals against the Lakers, just about shutting down Magic Johnson in Games 2 through 5.
He'll be the guy who, personal demons aside, captained a Bulls team during the 1993-1995 Jordan-less era, and seamlessly faded into the woodwork when Jordan returned.
He'll be the superstar who was part of the Jordan-Rodman-Pippen rock-star triumvirate in the late 90s, when the Bulls were the best sports team on the planet.
Most of all, I'll remember him as the guy who played hurt in the 1997 and 1998 NBA Finals, gritty series where Pippen's absence would have been costly. Pippen benefitted from Jordan all those years, but it became evident that Jordan couldn't have been MICHAEL JORDAN without Scottie Pippen. The picture of Jordan, ravaged by the flu (but playing anyway), leaning on Pippen at the end of a 1997 Finals game at Utah was symbolic of that.
The Bulls and the NBA have played themselves into irrelevance in Chicago since that Bulls team broke up after the NBA Lockout ended in 1999. It seems longer than six years since the last Bulls' NBA title. But when Pippen's retirement became official yesterday, the Bulls were back, if only for a moment. Thanks, Scottie.
UPDATE: My favorite Internet writer, Andy Dolan of Desipio.com, says Scottie WAS his favorite player, and he explains why. Our sentiments don't differ much, but he articulates it better.
His claim to fame could have been the 1.8 seconds he sat out in the 1994 playoffs, even though Toni Kukoc hit a game-winning shot.
He could have been known as the moody sidekick to Michael Jordan who never was as great after he left the Bulls in a trade he demanded.
And the way his career ended, his legacy with the Bulls could have been the enormous salary he more or less stole last year.
But that's not how Pippen the player will be remembered. I'll remember him as the defender the Bulls so desperately needed in the 1991 Finals against the Lakers, just about shutting down Magic Johnson in Games 2 through 5.
He'll be the guy who, personal demons aside, captained a Bulls team during the 1993-1995 Jordan-less era, and seamlessly faded into the woodwork when Jordan returned.
He'll be the superstar who was part of the Jordan-Rodman-Pippen rock-star triumvirate in the late 90s, when the Bulls were the best sports team on the planet.
Most of all, I'll remember him as the guy who played hurt in the 1997 and 1998 NBA Finals, gritty series where Pippen's absence would have been costly. Pippen benefitted from Jordan all those years, but it became evident that Jordan couldn't have been MICHAEL JORDAN without Scottie Pippen. The picture of Jordan, ravaged by the flu (but playing anyway), leaning on Pippen at the end of a 1997 Finals game at Utah was symbolic of that.
The Bulls and the NBA have played themselves into irrelevance in Chicago since that Bulls team broke up after the NBA Lockout ended in 1999. It seems longer than six years since the last Bulls' NBA title. But when Pippen's retirement became official yesterday, the Bulls were back, if only for a moment. Thanks, Scottie.
UPDATE: My favorite Internet writer, Andy Dolan of Desipio.com, says Scottie WAS his favorite player, and he explains why. Our sentiments don't differ much, but he articulates it better.
I don't agree with his assertion that Pippen was one of the five best players in history. But I do think Pippen deserved it when he was named one of the 50-best players in NBA history.You couldn't identify with Michael. He was too good. Scottie was the hero for
the rest of us. He was a towel boy at a little college in Arkansas who had a
growth spurt and four years later was in the NBA. He could do everything that
Jordan could do...just not quite as well ... Scottie will never get his just
due. He was, in my opinion, one of the five greatest all-around basketball
players we've ever seen. He just happened to line up next to the best... He
could guard everybody on the court, literally. He was one of the best passers in
the league. He was a tremendously underrated rebounder. Nobody ever destroyed a
passing lane better than Scottie Pippen.
