Scottie Pippen

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Scottie Pippen (born September 25, 1965) is a retired American professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association. He is most remembered for his time with the Chicago Bulls, with whom he was instrumental in six NBA titles and their record 1995–96 season of 72 wins. Pippen, along with Michael Jordan, played an important role in transforming the Bulls team into a vehicle for popularizing the NBA around the world during the 1990s.[1]

Considered one of the best small forwards of all time, Pippen was named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team eight consecutive times and the All-NBA First Team three times. He was a seven-time NBA All-Star and was the NBA All-Star Game MVP in 1994. He was named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History during the 1996–97 season, and is one of four players to have his jersey retired by the Chicago Bulls (the others being Jerry Sloan, Bob Love, and Michael Jordan). His biography on the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame's website states, "The multidimensional Pippen ran the court like a point guard, attacked the boards like a power forward, and swished the nets like a shooting guard."[2] During his 17-year career, he played 12 seasons with the Bulls, one with the Houston Rockets and four with the Portland Trail Blazers, making the postseason sixteen straight times.

Pippen is also the only person to have won an NBA title and Olympic gold medal in the same year twice (1992, 1996).[3] He was a part of the 1992 U.S. Olympic "Dream Team" which beat its opponents by an average of 44 points.[4] Pippen was also a key figure in the 1996 Olympic team, alongside former Dream Team members Karl Malone, John Stockton, and Charles Barkley as well as newer faces such as Penny Hardaway and Grant Hill. He wore number 8 during both years.

Pippen was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame on August 13, 2010.[5] He was welcomed to the Basketball Hall of Fame by his long time teammate Michael Jordan. Pippen was enshrined to the Basketball Hall of Fame as a part of the Dream Team in the same year. His college, University of Central Arkansas, retired his number #33 as well.[6]