Alternative Universe: Scottie Pippen
Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2020 8:31 pm
We all know Scottie Pippen is a 6-time NBA Champion, 6-time Conference Champion, and largely seen as an elite sidekick. Even though in his prime he was a consensus top 10 player in the league he never really gets credit for that. His legacy and greatness is 100% tied to the legacy and greatness of Michael Jordan. So even tho Scottie Pippen gets plenty of respect for his skills and abilities he will never able to step outside of Jordan's shadow. However, I don't think people quite realize how close Scottie came to leading a team to a title, on two separate occasions, without Michael Jordan.
In 1994 he and the Chicago Bulls were a bad call away from beating the Knicks without Michael Jordan and most likely advancing to the Finals. Scottie Pippen was also a literal one or two baskets away from leading the Portland Trailblazers past the Shaq and Kobe Lakers in 2000 after being down 3-1. Had the Blazers advanced to the Finals that year they most likely would have beaten Indiana for the title with Scottie or Rasheed Wallace taking home the Finals MVP.
In an alternate universe Scottie Pippen could be, and perhaps should be, a 7-time NBA Champion, 8-time Confernece Champion, 1-time Finals MVP, with two trips to the finals under his belt without Michael. Imagine how different Scottie Pippen would be viewed as an all time great. Right now Scottie Pippen is usually listed somewhere between the top 35-50 all time and seen as a mentally weak, bad leader. In this alternative universe Scottie Pippen gets bumped up about 20 spots and considered an elite, alpha, A+ level player rather than the mentally weak sidekick he's looked at as now.
Does Scottie Pippen get enough credit for the years he played without Micheal Jordan? When put into context Pippen more than proved himself as a his own man apart from Michael.
In 1994 he and the Chicago Bulls were a bad call away from beating the Knicks without Michael Jordan and most likely advancing to the Finals. Scottie Pippen was also a literal one or two baskets away from leading the Portland Trailblazers past the Shaq and Kobe Lakers in 2000 after being down 3-1. Had the Blazers advanced to the Finals that year they most likely would have beaten Indiana for the title with Scottie or Rasheed Wallace taking home the Finals MVP.
In an alternate universe Scottie Pippen could be, and perhaps should be, a 7-time NBA Champion, 8-time Confernece Champion, 1-time Finals MVP, with two trips to the finals under his belt without Michael. Imagine how different Scottie Pippen would be viewed as an all time great. Right now Scottie Pippen is usually listed somewhere between the top 35-50 all time and seen as a mentally weak, bad leader. In this alternative universe Scottie Pippen gets bumped up about 20 spots and considered an elite, alpha, A+ level player rather than the mentally weak sidekick he's looked at as now.
Does Scottie Pippen get enough credit for the years he played without Micheal Jordan? When put into context Pippen more than proved himself as a his own man apart from Michael.